Good thing we got a jump start on committee work this session because the winter weather really threw a wrench in our plans this week. For everyone’s safety, the Senate was closed Wednesday and Thursday, meaning we had to cancel five committee meetings, including Appropriations, which typically has some of the longest agendas. This coming week, we’ll have to work fast to get through the remaining bills in committee to meet the March 3 deadline.I have a handful of bills I’m hopeful will get a hearing this last week and move on to the full Senate.A major issue that has brought about numerous pieces of legislation is our ongoing work to regulate the medical marijuana industry and prevent illegal activities.Last session, we passed legislation to improve enforcement, which has resulted in numerous busts and hundreds of grower licenses, both new or renewing, being rejected because of suspected ties to criminal activity and organizations. Oklahoma has become a haven for criminal activity, but this is about to change.The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) has closed nearly 90 illegal grows since April. Then this past Tuesday, OBN led a multi-agency raid with more than 200 state, federal and local law enforcement officers of nine grow operations throughout the state believed to be involved in the black market. It was the largest marijuana-related bust in our state’s history, resulting in 13 issued arrest warrants in Oklahoma, one in California and three in Texas. Five were arrested in Oklahoma, and an estimated 100,000 plants and over 2,000 pounds of processed marijuana were confiscated. OBN will also be filing asset forfeiture cases against several vehicles, bank accounts, cash, equipment and eight properties. This is wonderful news for our state and those who are running legitimate grows and dispensaries. We must protect our law-abiding business owners.This explosion in crime is happening because essentially Oklahoma’s industry has grown faster than the Legislature and law enforcement expected. Our state now has more retail dispensaries than any other state and more than 12,000 marijuana related active business licenses.A lot of bills this session are aimed at changing oversight of the state’s marijuana industry, including overhauling the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) by making OMMA a stand-alone agency or putting it under a public safety agency rather the Department of Health. There are also bills to increase enforcement authority for county sheriffs, to put a moratorium on OMMA issuing new ...
