Small fortune spent in fight against medical marijuana.

In the hard-fought race for attorney general, medical marijuana has become the newest battlefield.

Challenger Gentner Drummond has blamed Attorney General Mike Hunter for the passage last month of widely criticized emergency medical marijuana rules.

The board that oversees the Health Department voted July 10 to ban sales of smokable marijuana and to require dispensaries to hire pharmacists. Gov. Mary Fallin signed off on the rules the next day.

The Board of Health voted Wednesday to repeal those unpopular rules, at Hunter’s urging.

Drummond accuses Hunter of failed leadership on the issue.

“He could have stopped it at any point,” Drummond said Tuesday night during a televised debate. “He could have advised the governor not to sign it. He didn’t until the ... people swelled up against him, and they had to reverse course. “That’s not leadership.” Hunter responded that the governor did not consult him before she signed the rules July 11.

“The facts are that you’re not ‘emperor’ general. You’re attorney general,” Hunter said. “We didn’t have input into the rules. We didn’t devise those rules.”

Hunter said he advised the Board of Health about its decision after the interim health commissioner asked for his input. “We saw that the board had ‘colored outside the lines’ and acted beyond their authority,” he said.

“We are continuing to advise the board now to make sure that they follow the law,” he said.

The two Republicans have been in a bitter political fight since mid-April.

Hunter led the primary election in June with 44.46 percent of the votes. Drummond was second with 38.45 percent. A third GOP candidate had 17.09 percent.

The runoff election is Aug. 28.

Drummond also has criticized the AG for not addressing allegations the Board of Health violated the Open Meeting Act before the July 10 meeting on medical marijuana rules.

Drummond on Facebook has called the allegations “very credible.”

Hunter responded Tuesday night that the matter was referred to Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater.

“It’s in his hands. It’s not my case,” Hunter said.

Later in the debate, Drummond criticized the AG again for not investigating the accusations.

“He’s letting the Oklahoma County district attorney do the job of the state,” Drummond said. “As attorney general, I will prosecute any violation of the open meeting law. We in Oklahoma deserve transparency and openness.”

Hunter said he has offered to help the DA.

“I have made it clear to him that if he needs the resources of the multicounty grand jury or he needs the assistance of our investigators, they’re available to him,” Hunter said.

The district attorney confirmed Wednesday the attorney general had offered to help.

Prater added that Hunter and his assistants have offered their full assistance “any time I’ve needed it.” He noted most recently Hunter agreed to take over the murder prosecution of a doctor who overprescribed opioids.

He also said the last two attorneys general also had policies that district attorneys should decide when violations of the Open Meeting Act are alleged.

Making the accusations about the Board of Health is an advocacy group called Green the Vote. The accusations are the crux of a lawsuit Green the Vote filed July 13 against Fallin, the Health Department and five board members.