Oklahoma Senator Seeks Millions to Fight Illegal Cannabis Cultivation

Senior Oklahoma Senator is calling for millions of dollars in federal funds to thwart illegal marijuana cultivation in the state.

Senator James Inhofe, a Republican, is reportedly asking for “$ 4 million in federal funds to help.” [Oklahoma] Drug agents fight these operations, which sometimes involve more than just black market activity, ”says local TV station KFOR.

Inhofe’s intention was announced by his chief of staff, Luke Holland, at a meeting of the Oklahoma Sheriffs Association on Wednesday.

The illegal operations have frustrated the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. According to KFOR, the director of the office, Donnie Anderson, has raised concerns that “international drug organizations and cartels are moving to Oklahoma to exploit medical marijuana laws.”

According to Anderson and other state officials, these organizations and cartels obtain a legitimate license for medicinal cannabis that they use for cultivation and then sell the product to surrounding states where cannabis is still banned.

“They bring with them a list of horrors … criminal activity that has absolutely nothing to do with drugs,” said Holland, as quoted by KFOR. “Also human trafficking, money laundering, arms trafficking.”

Anderson said the office was conducting “very thorough investigations” into the non-compliant operations.

“These are typical conspiracy investigations lasting one to two years. We were lucky enough to have the surgeries we did on them last year. But like I said, for face value they have their license and they are up and running. So you have to prove that it is black market marijuana, ”Anderson said, according to KFOR.

The Associated Press reported that Inhofe, a US Senator since 2003 and previously a member of the House of Representatives for seven years, “applied for direct appropriation by the US Department of Justice.”

Cannabis is big business in Oklahoma

Oklahoma voters passed an election proposal in 2018 that legalized medical marijuana in the state. Three years later, the program is widely recognized as an overwhelming success. According to the Marijuana Policy Project, the state has “over 380,000 active patient licenses and more than 10,000 registered medical cannabis companies,” making the state one of the largest programs in the United States.

“Despite the pandemic, the medical cannabis market is booming, and the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority reports that the state collected over $ 127 million in state and local taxes from medical cannabis in 2020,” according to the Marijuana Policy Project.

As MPP also noted, the implementation of the program was also impressive. While other states sometimes take years to get medical cannabis programs in motion, the Oklahoma Department of Health began to “accept applications from patients, caregivers, and potential medical cannabis companies,” according to the MPP.

But the program did not go unchecked, especially by the state narcotics agency.

Last summer, the state launched an investigation into whether a cannabis testing laboratory had produced false product test results.

Tulsa World reported last August that the investigation was being conducted by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority in partnership with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. The investigation looked at an Oklahoma City-based laboratory called FAST Laboratories.

Two months later, FAST Laboratories finally avoided paying fines after “surrendering its license during an investigation by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority,” according to Tulsa World.

The program has also exercised caution with Oklahoma lawmakers, who last year “passed a law last week requiring the Department of Public Safety to use $ 300,000 to fund a medical marijuana pilot program to test marijuana -Pay for alcohol devices, ”said the Oklahoman who owns The Sooner State, one of the first in the country to adopt such technology.