Rep. Pfeiffer: Medical Marijuana License Update

I get asked all the time the number of medical marijuana license holders we have in Oklahoma.

Here are the latest figures from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority. As of March 1, the number of licenses by category was:

• 347,849 patient
• 1,314 caregiver
• 4,119 growers
• 2,211 dispensaries
• 1,200 processors
• 90 transporters
• 26 laboratories.

Patient licenses were up by more than 2,500 from the prior month, and caregiver licenses were up by 10, but the number of growers was down by a little more than 200. The number of dispensaries was down by 72, processors by 48 and transporters by eight. The number of labs was the same.

This is down from a peak of about 10,000 licensed grows at the end of 2021.

Here are the most recent license numbers for counties in our House district:

• Garfield: 22 dispensaries, 20 growers, seven processors and zero transporters.
• Grant: three dispensaries, five growers, one processor and zero transporters.
• Kay: 23 dispensaries, 54 growers, seven processors and two transporters.
• Logan: 50 dispensaries, 199 growers, 80 processors and four transporters.
• Noble: five dispensaries, nine growers, two processors and zero transporters.

The total number of commercial licenses has dropped each month from October 2023, but total reported sales for the same time period have remained about the same. Medical growers continue to outpace medical dispensaries – 53.8% over 29.3% respectively.

Those numbers are only on the legal side. According to a recent story by The Frontier and ProPublica, state investigators say they have found links between foreign mafias and over 3,000 illegal grows, 80% of those are criminal groups of Chinese origin. These illegal grows bring plenty of other crime to the state, labor and sex trafficking among them. Oklahoma is still among the top producers of black market marijuana in the nation.

We’ve tightened state statutes to deal with illegal grows and foreign owners. We’ve seen a much more concerted crackdown on illegal actors, but there’s obviously much more to do.

In stark contrast to the news on marijuana, I want to highlight a very positive agricultural program I was privileged to be a part of last week.

The Oklahoma Youth Expo Legislative and Celebrity Showmanship Event took place at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City. I showed a pig raised by Anna Franke of Covington-Douglas, and then in the overall competition, I took the trophy by showing a calf raised by Kamryn Oakes from Arapaho-Butler FFA.

OYE is such a great event. Each March it brings between 7,000 and 8,000 youth exhibitors from across the state for the 12-day livestock show and sale. More than 13,000 head of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and ag mechanics projects were exhibited this year, and more than $3 million was awarded to exhibitors, in addition to more than $300,000 in academic scholarships.

OYE serves as a pivotal platform for nurturing the next generation of agricultural leaders across Oklahoma. Through their active involvement in livestock projects, young exhibitors cultivate essential life skills, including teamwork, leadership, and financial management, positioning them for success both within the agricultural sector and beyond.

As always, if you have concerns about bills, or problems I can assist you in solving, please reach out to me at john.pfeiffer@okhouse.gov or call my office at 405-557-7332.