Marijuana Business Magazine September 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | September 2019 152 For information about cannabis regulations in other markets, order the Marijuana Business Factbook at mjbizdaily.com/factbook. Main measures MMJ business regulations State tax requirements Sampling of state application fees Sampling of state licensing fees Oklahoma State Question 788 Passed in 2018 Businesses are required to use an inventory tracking system, providing monthly sales reports and accounting for any waste in the process. All medical marijuana businesses will be subject to audits and must keep detailed financial records for at least seven years, while marijuana processors will be subject to additional inspection of their premises during regular hours of operation. MMJ businesses also must meet certain security requirements and adhere to specific packaging and labeling standards. A 7% excise tax on the retail sale of MMJ is applied in addition to all state and local sales taxes. Cultivators: $2,500 Dispensaries: $2,500 Educational facilities: $500 (available early 2020) Processors: $2,500 Testing labs: $2,500 (available early 2020) Transporter agents: $500 Transporters: $2,500 Cultivators: $2,500 Dispensaries: $2,500 Educational facilities: $500 Processors: $2,500 Testing labs: $2,500 Transporter agents: $500 Transporters: $2,500   What to watch Legislators made several changes during the 2019 session to Oklahoma’s medical marijuana rules and regulations, which will have varying degrees of impact to existing businesses and patients. Regulations with a stronger potential impact include: a requirement that all medical marijuana be lab-tested by growers and processors, implementation of seed-to-sale tracking beginning in 2020, stricter residency requirements for cannabis business owners as well as a provision allowing licensed growers and dispensaries to sell seeds, clones and flower to other growers and dispensaries. The state also will add four new business license categories, including testing labs, transporters and educational facilities. The new regulations also expand the type of physicians permitted to recommend medical marijuana and add a temporary 60-day MMJ patient card for those recommended for short-term treatment. The first round of business license renewals was slated to begin Aug. 29. One of Oklahoma’s newly issued regulations will allow business licenses to remain active and valid during the renewal process so that companies will not be negatively impacted by potential renewal wait times. As this will be Oklahoma’s first renewal period, it will provide more insight into how many licensees developed operational businesses and how many of those businesses were successful enough to continue for another year. Consolidation may occur as established license holders map out the next phase of their operations. Market AtA Glance | Oklahoma One year after Oklahoma began accepting business and patient applications, the state’s booming medical marijuana industry continues to expand. Low barriers to entry—including some of the most reasonable application and licensing fees in the country and no licensing caps—have encouraged entrepreneurs to enter the fray. By July 29, the state had issued licenses to 3,733 growers, 1,708 dis- pensaries and 984 processors. On the patient side, there is no list of qualifying conditions, which reduces the time and expense needed for individuals to join the program. Meanwhile, 162,273 patients had been approved for medical marijuana cards by late July—making up 4.1% of the state’s total population and nearly double the 80,000 patients state regulators expected during the first year. New rules and regulations approved by the Legislature during the early part of 2019 will be implemented by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) between August and November, with many new rules—including mandatory lab testing—set to take effect in 2020. The first round of business applications will begin to expire in late August, with licensing renewal data likely to shed light on the first year of success for businesses. Between late 2018 and June 2019, the state had generated roughly $33 million in sales. – Maggie Cowee Photo by Alex Batchelo