Making the Case for Medical Marijuana

[patric]

FALLIN:  I will be discussing with legislative leaders and state agencies our options going forward on how best to proceed with adding a medical and proper regulatory framework to make sure marijuana use is truly for valid medical illnesses.

And we all know blue laws are medical in nature, right?
You can get your prescription for Hydrocodine filled on a Sunday, but not medical marijuana?

TITLE 310. 
OKLAHOMA STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
CHAPTER 681.  MEDICAL MARIJUANA CONTROL PROGRAM

310:681-5-14.    Hours of Operation
(a) A dispensary may only be open to the public and offer for sale
medical marijuana and medical marijuana products Monday through Saturday
from 10:00am to 9:00pm with no sales or operation on Sunday.

http://omma.ok.gov/Websites/ddeer/images/REVISED.MMR.WorkingDraft.JE06262018.pdf

[Conan71]

Who wants to bet that miscreants like Sally Kern or Nathan Dahm will be nominated to serve on any boards related to this?

[heironymouspasparagus]

Who wants to bet that miscreants like Sally Kern or Nathan Dahm will be nominated to serve on any boards related to this?

100% it will happen.

[cannon_fodder]

Interesting article out of Oregon, looking at the affects of 3 years of legal recreational marijuana.  

- Usage among kids/teenagers did not increase (actually went down 1/3 for 8th graders, flat for 11th grade)
- Usage among adults went from 13% to 16% (use in last 30 days)
- DUI positive tests for marijuana went from 680 per year before to 1020 per year after legalization (out of ~14k DUIs)
- Health affects noted are that calls to poison control & ER visits for pot are up.  
https://www.oregonlive.com/expo/news/erry-2018/06/932fe5664b5193/what_we_know_and_dont_know_aft.html

Other quick stats not in the article but I was curious about:

- $85 million in new tax revenue last year
- Marijuana arrests ~3300 (numbered ~13k before legalization, Oklahoma had about 11k arrests in 2016...nearly 10% of all arrests)
- No increase in traffic overall crashes in Oregon as of 2016 (if stoned drivers are causing crashes, they may not always get caught so the overall crash rate could be an indicator)

https://apps.state.or.us/Forms/Served/le8509b.pdf  (Dec 2016 report, but more thorough than an article)
https://www.oregon.gov/osp/CJIS/Pages/annual_reports.aspx
https://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/index.ssf/2017/10/oregon_pays_out_85_million_in_1.html

The state FAQ provides some good guidance to our legislatures on how to solve the problems they have identified:
https://www.oregon.gov/olcc/marijuana/Pages/FAQs-Personal-Use.aspx

Oklahoma isn't breaking new ground.  If Oregon can control a fully legal recreational market with limited negative consequences, surely we can handle this.  Lets learn what worked well and what did not work well in other states.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Oklahoma isn't breaking new ground.  If Oregon can control a fully legal recreational market with limited negative consequences, surely we can handle this.  Lets learn what worked well and what did not work well in other states.

I really do like your youthful enthusiasm, and genuinely hate to be the wet blanket...but this IS Oklahoma.  Where we mess up everything where the legislature is involved, from turnpikes to horse racing to education to county commission structure to 10 Commandments... and now to medical marijuana!  It will be all clustered up before too long, regardless of the will of the people.  And we appear to never learn.


We need to try an amendment, or state question, with the phrase in it that nothing the legislature does affects any part of said article....they can't touch!

[patric]

Interesting article out of Oregon, looking at the affects of 3 years of legal recreational marijuana.  

- Usage among kids/teenagers did not increase (actually went down 1/3 for 8th graders, flat for 11th grade)
- Usage among adults went from 13% to 16% (use in last 30 days)
- DUI positive tests for marijuana went from 680 per year before to 1020 per year after legalization (out of ~14k DUIs)
- Health affects noted are that calls to poison control & ER visits for pot are up.  
https://www.oregonlive.com/expo/news/erry-2018/06/932fe5664b5193/what_we_know_and_dont_know_aft.html

Other quick stats not in the article but I was curious about:

- $85 million in new tax revenue last year
- Marijuana arrests ~3300 (numbered ~13k before legalization, Oklahoma had about 11k arrests in 2016...nearly 10% of all arrests)
- No increase in traffic overall crashes in Oregon as of 2016 (if stoned drivers are causing crashes, they may not always get caught so the overall crash rate could be an indicator)

https://apps.state.or.us/Forms/Served/le8509b.pdf  (Dec 2016 report, but more thorough than an article)
https://www.oregon.gov/osp/CJIS/Pages/annual_reports.aspx
https://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/index.ssf/2017/10/oregon_pays_out_85_million_in_1.html

The state FAQ provides some good guidance to our legislatures on how to solve the problems they have identified:
https://www.oregon.gov/olcc/marijuana/Pages/FAQs-Personal-Use.aspx

Oklahoma isn't breaking new ground.  If Oregon can control a fully legal recreational market with limited negative consequences, surely we can handle this.  Lets learn what worked well and what did not work well in other states.

The Arkansas model seems geared towards maintaining as much of the status-quo corruption as before; no wonder Oklahoma seems focused on that.  

When you read thru Oklahoma's draft framework
http://omma.ok.gov/Websites/ddeer/images/REVISED.MMR.WorkingDraft.JE06262018.pdf
it seems to treat Medical Marijuana as something between Plutonium and 3.2 beer.  

Action at the federal level is also essential because as long as the DEA claims it as Schedule I you have banking issues, and ATF voiding parts of the 2nd Amendment and on and on.  

U.S. Senate Votes To Legalize Hemp After Decades-Long Ban Under Marijuana Prohibition
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2018/06/28/u-s-senate-votes-to-legalize-hemp-after-decades-long-ban-under-marijuana-prohibition/

Ok, thats hemp manufacturing, which is related but peripherally.  Congress is making some noises but we cant imagine the lobbying going on at that level.
...and then there is that moment they realize they are out of touch:

Lankford Gets Smoked in Primary

U.S. Sen. James Lankford recorded a TV ad urging voters to reject the (medical marijuana) measure, arguing that "our families won't be better if more parents and grandparents smoke more marijuana." Gov. Mary Fallin said the measure "basically allows recreational marijuana in the state of Oklahoma."

Tuesday's results suggest that Oklahoma Republicans largely shrugged off those concerns. About 53 percent of voters cast ballots in the GOP gubernatorial primary this evening, suggesting the medical marijuana measure won over a majority-Republican electorate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/27/oklahoma-voters-just-approved-one-of-the-most-progressive-medical-marijuana-bills-in-the-country/

[patric]

Oklahoma is looking for ways to stop marijuana-impaired drivers, but solution may not be cut-and-dry



When an officer has probable cause to believe a driver is under the influence, they may order a blood, urine or saliva test. Under state law, those tests also check for "metabolites" found in Schedule 1 drugs, such as marijuana, that can stay in a consumers' systems for days or even weeks.

Chad Moody is an Oklahoma-City based lawyer who has dubbed himself "The Drug Lawyer." He specializes in cases involving marijuana.

He called Oklahoma's laws on driving under the influence of drugs "nonsensical," pointing to how long it can take marijuana to completely leave someone's system.

"As long as (the law) is written that way, it will make any medical marijuana user who drives within 30 days, any detectable amount, automatically DUID (driving while under the influence of drugs)."

Blake Johnson is an attorney in Oklahoma City who has studied metabolite laws in Oklahoma and other states. He said under those laws, a driver can be arrested for a DUI weeks or months after consuming drugs.

Oklahoma expanded its DUI liability laws in 2013 to include drivers who have metabolites from Schedule I drugs in their systems. Those metabolites stay in someone's system long after the intoxicating effect expires.

https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/oklahoma-is-looking-for-ways-to-stop-marijuana-impaired-drivers-but-solution-may-not-be-cut-and-dry/

[swake]

The state health board just voted on their rules for medical marijuana.

No selling of "smokable" marijuana.

Say what now?

[Hoss]

The state health board just voted on their rules for medical marijuana.

No selling of "smokable" marijuana.

Say what now?

Pretty good chance this will go to court.

[heironymouspasparagus]

The state health board just voted on their rules for medical marijuana.

No selling of "smokable" marijuana.

Say what now?

No one can possibly be surprised.  This should have been a constitutional amendment with no tampering by legislature clause.

[Hoss]

[swake]

No one can possibly be surprised.  This should have been a constitutional amendment with no tampering by legislature clause.

The new state questions are constitutional changes. I'm now going to sign simply because these kinds of games we play in Oklahoma against the will/good of the people pisses me off.

Where does one sign these?

[heironymouspasparagus]

The new state questions are constitutional changes. I'm now going to sign simply because these kinds of games we play in Oklahoma against the will/good of the people pisses me off.

Where does one sign these?

No idea but am looking, too.


Edit:   Found it - very easy!  Am heading out after work to sign up.

Locations;

https://gtvok.com/locations

[Conan71]

Well, never mind about edibles, this pretty much kills that. 

Also curious: Are Oklahoma doctors now required to do a pregnancy test on a woman of child-bearing age prior to prescribing any sort of pharmaceutical which has a caution against taking the med while pregnant? 

No medical marijuana products could be made enticing to children, such as candy, fake cigarettes or gummies.

Physicians would not be able to recommend a woman of childbearing age for medical marijuana prescriptions without first performing a pregnancy test. If the woman is pregnant, the physician could still make a recommendation if he or she determines that the benefits of medical marijuana use outweigh the risk of harm.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/marijuana/state-health-board-restricts-dispensaries-from-selling-smokable-marijuana-as/article_4d8c1768-0166-5c80-b60d-4fe91be95a15.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=_Latest%20News&utm_campaign=Latest%20News

[erfalf]

Well, never mind about edibles, this pretty much kills that. 

Also curious: Are Oklahoma doctors now required to do a pregnancy test on a woman of child-bearing age prior to prescribing any sort of pharmaceutical which has a caution against taking the med while pregnant? 

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/marijuana/state-health-board-restricts-dispensaries-from-selling-smokable-marijuana-as/article_4d8c1768-0166-5c80-b60d-4fe91be95a15.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=_Latest%20News&utm_campaign=Latest%20News

Honestly, is there ever a case when an alternative is not an option when a women is pregnant?

Surely this occurs about as often as it necessary to kill a baby in the womb for the health of the mother. In other words, exceedingly rare.