More than 150 Oklahoma pharmacies face new state fines

More than 150 medical marijuana dispensaries in Oklahoma have received letters from state regulators telling owners they owe thousands of dollars in fines for transactions that do not comply with state medical cannabis regulations. Some vendors could also lose their licenses for selling too much medical marijuana in a single transaction, according to a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA).

The letters, one of which was forwarded to High Times, inform the owners that the potentially illegal transactions took place between January and May this year. The correspondence also informs the companies that a court date has been set for November in connection with the alleged violations. Rob Speight, owner of the pharmacy, is one of several business owners who say the letter came as a shock, adding that he is unsure how he will afford to pay the fine.

“It says I will be charged $5,000 for a transaction that exceeded the 84-gram limit,” Speight, who received the letter from OMMA last week, told local media.

He also adds that the letter lacks details and does not contain basic information such as the date of the reported transaction.

“We don’t know exactly when it was, I’m not saying it didn’t happen,” Speight said. “We don’t make it a habit to ever exceed the legal limit… it’s quite simple, you just split it into a second transaction.”

According to Oklahoma medical marijuana laws, patient purchases are limited to 84.9 grams (approximately 3 ounces) of cannabis flower, 28.3 grams (one ounce) of cannabis concentrate, 72 ounces of edible marijuana, six mature cannabis plants and/or six cannabis plant seedlings . Transactions that exceed stated limits violate government regulations and result in owners being subject to fines.

Jed Green, director of the medical cannabis advocacy group Oklahoman’s for Responsible Cannabis Action, met with OMMA officials last week to get more information about the letters and alleged rule violations.

“It has caused difficulties for some of our business owners. “Particularly those who are truly compliant… will have to look again for the needle in the haystack of, for example, a potential breach across tens of thousands of transactions,” Green said. “OMMA has indicated that they will announce these violations… it would have been nice if it had been a little more isolated beforehand.”

Green added that technical glitches in OMMA’s tracking system could be responsible for some of the alleged violations.

“We talked about the way mathematics was done in converting American standard units to metric units,” Green said. “We discussed this and wanted to ensure that OMMA was thorough and that in some of these cases there may be interference between multiple software systems.”

The letters state that violators will be punished with a $5,000 fine for the first offense. Subsequent violations result in fines of $15,000. The letter obtained by High Times, sent to a business owner who wished to remain anonymous, detailed three violations, bringing the total fine to $35,000. Some pharmacy owners fear the fines could drive them out of business.

“It is also a crisis for business owners when they are fined so heavily that they close the door on people and cost them their livelihood,” said Cynthia Myers, owner of three pharmacies. “I’ve been at this for five years and in November … I don’t have $30,000 to pay a fine, on top of other permits and stuff.”

In a statement to local media, OMMA public relations manager Porsha Riley said some of the pharmacies that received letters also face losing their licenses to serve patients.

“As the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, we are responsible for regulating the medical cannabis industry in our state. This responsibility includes maintaining the highest standards of compliance,” Riley said in a statement. “Our agency recently filed lawsuits against 161 licensed pharmacies for sales above the legal limit. 39 of these 161 cases involve fines and the revocation of licenses; 122 require fines. Enforcing legal sales restrictions is critical to maintaining the integrity of our medical marketplace, preventing unauthorized use or distribution, and controlling oversupply.”

Speight said he faces a Nov. 8 court date to answer for the alleged violation.

“I have to hire a lawyer, go to court to challenge something that I actually have no idea what, where or when it happened,” he said.

According to the letters, entrepreneurs whose licenses have been revoked will not be eligible to apply for a new license for a period of five years. Bri Padilla, executive director of the trade group The Chamber of Cannabis, said some dispensary owners asked for help with compliance before the letters were issued, but did not receive the support they needed.

“Of particular concern is that operators and legislators in Oklahoma were already requesting assistance regarding options for tracking seeds to sale prior to January of this year. Now we’re seeing operators being fined, shut down, and otherwise threatened because of possible software errors. This is unacceptable and deserves an investigation,” Padilla wrote in a statement to High Times. “As all cannabis programs are introduced and expanded, some difficulties are to be expected, but problems of this magnitude simply should not occur.”