Capitol pot panel meets this week
Oklahoma’s bipartisan working group on medical marijuana policy meets for the first time Wednesday at the state Capitol.
Members of the legislative panel said they want to make sure voters’ intent is carried out in law instead of regulations imposed by the Oklahoma Board of Health after State Question 788 passed a month ago.
The controversial rules banned smokable marijuana and would force dispensaries to hire a pharmacist for each retail location, but the board chairman has said there will be a special meeting soon to reconsider the rules they adopted.
“At this point, I think that it’s important for us to make sure this gets done right. We’ve already had a couple of false starts, it seems,” said the legislative panel’s co-chair, state Sen. Greg McCortney, R-Ada.
“I definitely think (the Board of Health) went in the wrong direction. I think this committee and the Legislature is the correct path forward to make sure we do this right.”
With legislative hands on the law, however, some medical marijuana supporters might be hesitant to expect a result they can applaud. Unlike the Board of Health rules, which were a surprise to many observers, McCortney noted the legislative group’s work will be transparent with meetings that are open to the public and streamed online.
“We want the people to see exactly what we’re doing and what information we have that we’re
basing decisions off of,” he said. “We’re not going to hurry into this; we’re really walking in with an open mind and we’re going to listen to all sides of the issue.”
Tulsa Republican state Rep. Carol Bush landed on the committee likely because of her personal interest in the subject and service as vice chair of health services and long-term care.
Bush said a family member with glaucoma wants to try medical marijuana, and she cited her mother who has lived with chronic pain for two decades.
“All the pain meds she’s taken, she’s built up a tolerance,” Bush said. “I understand what some of these people are talking about firsthand.”
Bush said she wants to be a pragmatist in the working group, taking in as much information as possible before helping craft legislative recommendations. It’s a sentiment shared by another member, state Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee.
Fetgatter said he has a personal opposition to marijuana use because of negative effects of habitual use but wants to represent his constituents’ decision.
“People are expecting us to put reasonable regulation around the medical dispensing of the product and growing of the product. But they also want to be sure the integrity and the spirit of the state question remains intact,” he said. “My personal opinion when it comes to legislation doesn’t matter. What matters is, what do the people want? How do we make sure we give people what they want while at the same time keeping Oklahomans safe?”