Medical marijuana use in public places faces regulation

OKLAHOMA CITY -- If a bill passed by the state senate this week is adopted by the Oklahoma House of Representatives, users of medical marijuana may be limited in how they can consume the substance in certain places.

The House will consider legislation clarifying cities’ and counties’ authority to regulate the smoking and vaping of medical marijuana in public places. Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-tuttle, is the author of Senate Bill 1296, which he says is needed to clear up confusion as to where citizens can use their medical products. The bill passed out of the Senate Monday afternoon.

“The bills we passed last year had some gray area and it wasn’t clear as to whether someone could consume their medical marijuana in smokable or vaping form in a public place. This legislation clarifies that cities and counties do have the authority to regulate someone’s consumption of these products through smoking or vaping,” Paxton said. “However, it would not stop someone, like a cancer patient, from taking their medicine in a consumable or edible form. They just wouldn’t be able to smoke or vape it in those public places where their city or county prohibits it because when you smoke it, it actually affects a lot of people around you.”

SB 1296 updates the Smoking in Public Places and Indoor Workplaces Act to add the smoking or vaping of medical marijuana to the list of public places where the smoking or vaping of tobacco or other lawful products is currently prohibited.

Rep. Marcus Mcentire, R-duncan, is the bill’s principal House author.