Req. No. 8523 Page 1
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 58th Legislature (2022)
HOUSE BILL 2989 By: Russ
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to public health and safety; amending
63 O.S. 2021, Section 422, which relate s to license
applications for medical marijuana growing;
prescribing procedures with respect to approval of
commercial grow licenses; providing for
identification of real prope rty; requiring submission
of certain question to vot ers; requiring majority
approval for issuance of license; prescribing
procedures for submission of question ; prescribing
wording for ballot titles; prescribing procedures for
communication of election outcomes to the State
Department of Health; providing for effect of failu re
of county voters to approve application; prohibiting
applications during certain ti me period; requiring
State Department of Health to maintain registr y for
purposes of implementing requirements related to
election outcomes; and providing an effective date .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STAT E OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2021, Section 422, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 422. A. The State Department of Health shall, within
thirty (30) days of passage of this initiative, make available o n
its website in an easy-to-find location an application for a
commercial grower license . The application fee shall be Two Req. No. 8523 Page 2
Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,5 00.00). A method of payment
shall be provided on the website of the Department. The Subject to
the provisions of subsections F through O of this section, the State
Department of Health shall have ninety (90) days to review the
application; approve, reject or deny the application; and mail the
approval, rejection or denial letter stating the reasons for the
rejection or denial to the applicant.
B. The State Department of Health shall approve all
applications which me et the following criteria:
1. The applicant must be twenty-five (25) years of age or
older;
2. The applicant, if applying as an individual, mus t show
residency in the State of Oklahoma;
3. All applying entities must show that all members, managers,
and board members are Oklahoma residents;
4. An applying entity may show ownership of non -Oklahoma
residents, but that percentage ownership may not exceed twenty-five
percent (25%);
5. All applying individuals or entities must be registered to
conduct business in the State of Oklahoma; and
6. All applicants must disclose all ownership interests in the
commercial grower operation ; and
7. All applicants shall be required to prove that any county in
which real property owned by or leased to the applicant for a Req. No. 8523 Page 3
commercial grower license has approved issuance of the license as
prescribed pursuant to the provisions of su bsections F through O of
this section.
Applicants with a nonviolent felony conviction in the last two
(2) years, any other f elony conviction in the last five (5) years,
inmates in the custody of the Department of Corrections or any
person currently incarcerate d shall not qualify for a comme rcial
grower license.
C. A licensed commercial grow er may sell marijuana to a
licensed dispensary or a licensed processor. Further, sales by a
licensed commercial grower shall be considered wholesale sales and
shall not be subject to taxation. Under no circumstances may a
licensed commercial grower sell marijuana directly to a licensed
medical marijuana patient or licensed caregiver . A licensed
commercial grower may only sell at the wholesale level to a license d
dispensary, a licensed grower or a licensed processor. If the
federal government lifts restr ictions on buying and selling
marijuana between states, then a licensed commercial grower would be
allowed to sell and buy marijuana wholesale from, or to, a n out-of-
state wholesale provider. A licensed commercial grower shall be
required to complete a mo nthly yield and sales report to th e State
Department of Health . This report shall be due on the fifteenth of
each month and provide reporting on the previous month . This report
shall detail the amount of marijuana harvested in pounds, the amount Req. No. 8523 Page 4
of drying or dried marijuana on hand, the am ount of marijuana sold
to licensed processors in pounds, the amount of waste in pounds, and
the amount of marijuana sold t o licensed dispensaries in pounds.
Additionally, this report shall show total wholesale sales in
dollars. The State Department of He alth shall have oversight and
auditing responsibilities to ensure that all marijuana being grown
by licensed commercial growers is accounted for.
D. There shall be no limits on how much marijuana a licensed
commercial grower can grow.
E. Beginning on the effective date of this act, licensed
commercial growers shall be authorized to package and sell pre -
rolled marijuana to licensed medical marijuana dispensaries . The
products described in this subsection shall contain o nly the ground
parts of the marijuana plant and shall not include marijuana
concentrates or derivatives. The total net weight of each pre -roll
packaged and sold by medical marijuana commercial growers sh all not
exceed one (1) gram. These products must be tested, packaged and
labeled in accordance with Oklahoma law and rules promulga ted by the
State Commissioner of Health.
F. Prior to the time an application otherwise authorized by
this section is filed with the State Department of Health , an
individual or entity seeking a commercial grower lice nse shall make
application to the county or co unties in which any real property
owned by or leased to the applicant is loc ated and upon which Req. No. 8523 Page 5
commercial marijuana growing as authorized by this section is to
occur. The provisions of this subsection and subse ctions G through
O of this section shall be applicable to real property located in
either unincorporated areas or incorpor ated areas of the county. The
application shall be on such form as prescribed by the State
Department of Health for such purpose.
G. All applications for approval of a commercial grow license
by the county shall be su bmitted not later than June 30 each year .
The question for approval of the license shall only be submitted fo r
a vote at the General Election held in each even -numbered year.
H. The board of county commi ssioners of the county or counties
to which an application for approval of a commercial grower license
is submitted pursuant to the provisions of this section shall submit
a question to the voters of the county or counties in which the real
property, which shall be clearly identified in the application , is
located. If an application for a single license desc ribes a parcel
of real property located in more th an one county, the application
shall be submitted in each and every county in w hich the parcel is
located and the boards of county commissioners of the affected
counties shall coordinate their actions so that the vote for
approval of the license application occurs on the same d ate in each
county with respect to such license application.
I. If a parcel of real property identified in a commercial
grower license application is located in more than one county, the Req. No. 8523 Page 6
license may only be issued by a county the voters of which have
approved the issuance of the license and only to the extent of
growing operations for marijuana on the real property located within
the boundary of the county the voters of which have approved t he
issuance of the license.
J. The question for approval of the c ommercial grower license
shall be submitted in substantially the followin g form:
SHALL A COMMERCIAL GROWER LICENSE FOR MARIJUANA BE ISSUED TO
[INSERT LEGAL NAME OF APPLICA NT] WITH RESPECT TO THE FOLLOWING
DESCRIBED REAL PROPERTY LOCATED IN [INSERT COUNTY NAME AND
PHYSICAL ADDRESS OR OTHER APPLICAB LE DESCRIPTION, WHETHER LOT OR
BLOCK OR METES AND BOUN DS OR OTHER DESCRIPTION BY WHICH A PERSON
OF REASONABLE UNDERSTANDING COULD IDENTIFY THE LOCATION OF THE
PROPERTY]?
YES - FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE L ICENSE _____________
NO - AGAINST THE APPROVAL OF THE LICENSE _____________
K. A majority of those persons voting on the question submitted
pursuant to subsection J of this section shall be required in order
for the license application to be appro ved.
L. If the voters of the applicable county or counties approve
the issuance of the lice nse, the outcome of the vote shall be
certified by the county election board of the affected county or
counties and a certified copy of the outcome shall be attache d to
the license application submitted to the State Department of Health Req. No. 8523 Page 7
which shall then review the application pursuant to the requirements
of law and either approve or deny the application.
M. If the voters of the applicable county or counties do not
approve the issuance of the license, the outcome of the election
shall be certified by the county election board of the applicable
county or counties a nd such certified result shall be provided to
the license applicant and transmitted to the State Department of
Health, by certified mail with return receipt requested, not later
than seven (7) days after the election result has been certified by
the applicable county election board.
N. An applicant for a commercial grower license that is denied
approval by a county or counties pur suant to the provisions of this
section shall not make applicatio n to the county in which any real
property described in a ballot as prescri bed by subsection J of this
section was contained for a period o f five (5) years from the date
of such election. No application for a commercial grower license
shall be submitted by any applicant in a county that has deni ed a
commercial grower license pursuant to the voting procedures
prescribed by this section for a period of five (5) years from the
date of the election.
O. The State Department of Health shall maintain a regis try or
record of any county the v oters of which did not approv e a
commercial grower license application pursuant to t he provisions of
this section in order to prevent the issuance of a license to any Req. No. 8523 Page 8
applicant for a period of five (5) years from the date of the
election with respect to an y real property located in a county the
voters of which did not approve the issuance of a license.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022.
58-2-8523 MAH 12/03/21