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Oklahoma Officials Say Medical Marijuana Businesses Must Register With Federal DEA To Avoid Punishment

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2 months ago

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Oklahoma drug officials have issued guidelines requiring medical marijuana companies to register with the federal government to avoid penalties, including revocation of state registrations.

Donnie Anderson, director of the Oklahoma Office of Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Enforcement (OBNDD), said in a letter to cannabis industry stakeholders on Friday that they are under pressure. complete a new Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration form with that it was launched The Trump administration’s move to federally regulate cannabis.

Citing state law, he said “any registrant who is a distributor or manufacturer of medicinal marijuana products must comply with federal law and, as a result, must obtain DEA registration.”

“Failure to obtain DEA registration may result in OBNDD administrative penalties, including revocation of a registrant’s OBNDD registration,” the letter states. “This is consistent with the requirements currently in place for Schedule Ill registrants regulated by the OBNDD.”

“To ensure compliance with these federal regulations and to minimize the impact on legally operating entities, OBNDD will not consider OBNDD-registered medical marijuana businesses without a DEA registration required to manufacture or distribute marijuana until January 1, 2027. It is strongly recommended that all OBNDD registrants authorized to manufacture marijuana or medical marijuana licensed by OBNDD apply for or be required to register. April 28, 2026 Once After the publication of the permanent Order, upon timely submission of an application to the DEA, the registrant will not be subject to OBNDD administrative action, without DEA registration, to distribute marijuana, DEA applications submitted within sixty days will be distributed in any DEA case and products without DEA registration within the interim period These activities in violation of the Final Order may be subject to OBNDD administrative sanctions until a registrant’s OBNDD registration is revoked.

Anderson concluded by saying, “nothing contained in this letter is intended to be construed as legal advice regarding a registrant’s obligations under federal law or Oklahoma statutes.”

“This letter is simply being issued to inform medical marijuana companies of their administrative responsibilities,” he said. he wrote. “If there are additional questions regarding compliance with federal, state, or administrative law, the registrant should consult with an attorney.”

The Oklahoma Medical Marihuana Authority (OMMA), which licenses and regulates the state’s medical cannabis businesses, released the guidelines separately earlier this week. a recently litigated case of federal reorganization and reform.

“This is an evolving federal conversation, but our focus remains the same: protecting patient health and safety and responsibly regulating the industry,” said OMMA Executive Director Adria Berry. “These announcements have raised many questions, but very few answers. OMMA will continue to relay information released by the DEA and the federal government, but ultimately, we encourage licensees to seek professional advice as they make the best decisions for their business.”

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), meanwhile, recently suggested that lawmakers should pass one. measure on the ballot to roll back the state’s medical cannabis program. In his State of the State address in February, he said voters should “shut him down”, arguing that “liberal activists” had defrauded the state and “opened Pandora’s box”.

Legislative leaders have pushed back on that idea, however.

Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R), for example, initially expressed an open mind, but ultimately decided against it It would be “very difficult” to legalize and unfair to licensed cannabis operators who “invested their life savings into this program” and are “trying to do this for Oklahomans who need this product, not for recreation, but for real medicine.”

“It’s hard to undo that bell,” he said. “What I’m going to suggest to the governor is that we don’t ask questions about the situation, but we continue to push regulations (and) we continue to regulate the industry.”

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So has House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R). he largely dismissed the possibility of overturning the state’s medical cannabis program. He said Oklahomans have already made a clear distinction: they support medical marijuana and are “very strong” against legalizing adult use, based on past election results.

Stitt is not, however, saying yes in a recent interview “He had great conversations with the House and the Senate.”

“They know it’s a problem. Oklahomans are calling our offices saying it’s a problem,” Stitt said. “So I think we’re going to give something back to the people.”

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) was asked about a call by voters to overhaul the state’s medical marijuana program, and He said he would “like” to eliminate the state’s medical marijuana program.

However, he warned that doing so would result in the return of hundreds of licensees participating in the market, as the state would “take away” a source of income from them.

In 2022, Stitt used his State of the State address as an opportunity to discuss the voter-approved medical marijuana law, arguing that the residents were deceived by the supporters of the voting initiative.

Meanwhile, in November, Oklahoma activists withdraw initiative to legalize adult marijuana They hoped to put it on the 2026 state ballot.

After a brief but aggressive signature push to secure ballot placement, Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA) ultimately failed to submit petitions by the deadline, according to the secretary of state.

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RAND estimates Indiana adult-use cannabis could yield $180M in annual revenue

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13 hours ago

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June 28, 2026

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Two new RAND reports commissioned by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation outline the policy options and financial commitments facing Indiana as the state debates whether to change its cannabis laws amid restrictions across the country.

Reports show that 44% of Indiana residents live within 50 miles of a licensed dispensary in a neighboring state, and 96% live within 100 miles, as three of Indiana’s four states have legalized adult-use cannabis. At the same time, intoxicating hemp products containing the same psychoactive compound as marijuana are available at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores throughout Indiana with limited oversight.

Cannabis use in Indiana has doubled in the past decade, with a significant increase among adults 26 and older. RAND estimates that 1.3 million Hoosiers used cannabis in 2024 and spent $1.8 billion on marijuana products that year. Indiana recorded more than 13,000 cannabis-related arrests in 2024, with more than 90% for possession and more than 75% for non-cannabis related charges. The state spends $10 million to $20 million annually on cannabis law enforcement.

Rather than recommending a specific policy, the RAND reports outline four broad options: maintaining prohibition, reducing criminal penalties for possession, legalizing medical cannabis, or legalizing the adult recreational use market. Legalizing adult-use cannabis would generate about $180 million in annual state revenue, roughly 1 percent of the state’s general fund, well below some previous projections and less than half of the $385 million in combined cigarette and alcohol tax revenue Indiana will collect in 2025, according to the Indiana Department of Revenue.

Legalization would also entail significant upfront costs, and ongoing regulatory costs could reach the low tens of millions of dollars annually, outweighing the savings from reduced criminal justice spending. RAND identifies 14 policy considerations important to establishing legal markets, each with its own public health and state economic implications.










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Virginia Governor Proposes Amendments To Budget Containing Marijuana Legalization—Without Suggesting Cannabis Changes

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13 hours ago

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June 28, 2026

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Virginia’s governor has proposed changes to the budget legislation passed by lawmakers this week, but those changes do not include changes to provisions to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana.

They have also failed to respond to the concerns of advocates who called for a section to be dropped significantly increase the penalties for public consumption of cannabis– as they say, according to the new state data obtained, it will be established in a discriminatory race.

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger (D) sent her proposed budget amendments to lawmakers on Friday, which will require the House and Senate to reconvene before enacting the general legislation and its marijuana provisions before the July 1 budget deadline. Lawmakers hope to do so on Monday.

Budget project approved by the Parliament It has provisions that allow for the legalization of the sale of recreational marijuana— but the current $25 fine for using cannabis in a public place would also rise 900 percent to $250 — an increase that advocates call a “poverty penalty.”

A coalition of advocacy groups led by Marijuana Justice this week released new enforcement statistics obtained through Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that show that “legalization has not ended racially biased marijuana policing.”

Analysis of state data shows that since the commercial legalization of cannabis took effect in Virginia in 2021, 185 whites and 179 blacks have been charged with public consumption, meaning that, based on the state’s population, blacks are three times more likely than whites to face such marijuana charges.

Spanberger did not change the penalty increase in the proposed amendments, and he did not suggest any changes to the marijuana section of the bill.

Marijuana Justice and the ACLU of Virginia, the National Organization for Marijuana Law Reform, the Marijuana Policy Project, the Drug Policy Alliance and the Latino Cannabis Alliance, among others, recently sent a letter. asking lawmakers and the governor not to increase the punishment for cannabis“saying it will deepen racial and economic inequality.”

“Increased fines and penalties for low-level marijuana offenses are not neutral,” the organizations wrote in a letter to Spanberger and lawmakers. “They are imposed disproportionately against black and brown communities, create unaffordable debt for low-income people, and can cause significant damage to immigration, housing, education and employment.”

Spanberger last month vetoed an earlier measure to legalize the sale of recreational cannabis, after lawmakers rejected proposed amendments to the plan. Later, with Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D) and Del. He negotiated a deal with Sen. Paul Krizek (D), who sponsored the previous measure, that was included in the budget legislation passed this week.

The new plan differs significantly from the previous legislation in several ways.

For example, it sets the start date for the sale of recreational marijuana to July 1, 2027, compared to the Jan. 1 date proposed by Spanberger and passed by lawmakers.

It also limits public possession and purchase of marijuana to 2 ounces per transaction, above the legal limit of one ounce. Legislation approved by lawmakers earlier this year would allow adults to have 2.5 ounces.

The bill also gives Spanberger language to raise the tax on marijuana from 6 percent to 8 percent after two years of legal sales.

As a compromise, the new deal would punish public marijuana use with a civil penalty of $250, a significant increase from the current law’s $25, but harsher than the Class 4 felony called for in the governor’s proposed changes to the previous bill.

Legislators In March he approved the initial bills for the sale of cannabisbut the governor then proposed changes to the legalization proposal—including delaying the start of sales by six months, increasing taxes and introducing new criminal penalties for cannabis users. The the April legislature refused to adopt the amendments when reassembled in a one-day session, however, effectively excluding them. Spanberger then vetoed it.

Spanberger said this month that he was “Really productive” and “incredible” conversations with lawmakers about working on a compromise approach to legalizing the sale of adult cannabisand Marihuana Moment reported on the ongoing talks.

The governor, on the other hand, has tried to explain his veto publicly, including saying that it is his opinion. “Taking a bit longer” to get to market is not something he sees as a “negative”. because getting the details right is more important than getting it done quickly.

A recent survey found that A bipartisan majority of Virginia voters wanted Spanberger to sign the cannabis legislation become law, and that they did not particularly agree with the desire to slow down the period for the launch of legal sales.

The governor recently acknowledged this in a separate interview “A lot of people are not happy” with the veto of cannabis legislation. “Friends and family are also upset,” he said.

Spanberger has answered it repeatedly Criticism of the cannabis amendments from bill sponsors and advocates saying that the suggested changes came after him He spoke with leaders of other states that have already established adult marijuana markets.

However, a spokesman for Spanberger declined to name any other governors who spoke about cannabis in response to a question from Marihuana Moment.

The governor tried to explain his veto in a previous interview, reiterating that he supports the launch of a legal cannabis market but worried about what he called a “fast-track timeline” and “a lot more stores across Virginia” than he thought were appropriate.

Personal possession of marijuana and growing marijuana at home has been legal in Virginia since 2021, but then the govt. Glenn Youngkin (R) twice vetoed bills to provide consumers with a way to legally purchase adult cannabis.

Here are the key details of the new cannabis plan the budget and how it compares to the legislation Spanberger vetoed…SB 542 and HB 642-Also the previously proposed changes to these measures:

  • Adults would be able to purchase up to 2 ounces of marijuana in a single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis products, as determined by regulators. That would mean going over the current legal limit of 1 ounce. Lawmakers previously proposed setting the limit at 2.5 ounces, and the governor wanted only 2 ounces.
  • Legal sales can begin on July 1, 2027. Lawmakers had previously set a date of Jan. 1, 2027, but the governor wanted to push it back to July 1.
  • A 6 percent excise tax would be imposed on the sale of cannabis, as well as 5.3 percent on retail sales and use, and municipalities would impose an additional local tax of up to 3.5 percent. Starting July 1, 2029, the state excise tax would increase to 8 percent, in line with the governor’s previously proposed amendments.
  • Proceeds would be distributed to the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, early childhood education, the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Health Services and public health initiatives. The measure previously approved by lawmakers would have allocated specific percentages to each, but the new language does not specify what share of the revenue will go to each program. The governor, in his amendments, wanted to put all revenue into the general fund “for purposes such as early childhood education, behavioral health, public health awareness, prevention, treatment and recovery services, workforce development, reentry, indigent criminal defense and targeted reinvestment in historically disadvantaged communities.” His amendment also sought to eliminate support for the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund.
  • The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority will oversee licensing and regulation of the new industry, and will also take over oversight of hemp, which falls under the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. A five-member board of directors appointed by the governor would lead the body, and the bill previously approved by lawmakers called for a seven-member body, four appointed by the governor, two appointed by the Speaker of the House and one appointed by the Senate Rules Committee.
  • The definition of what constitutes a legal hemp product would be narrowed by removing a provision that contains more than 2 milligrams of total THC per package if they contain a CBD to THC ratio of 25:1 or greater.
  • 350 retail marijuana shops would be allowed to operate statewide, the same number approved by lawmakers and more than the 200 proposed by the governor.
  • Local governments should not allow marijuana businesses to operate in their area.
  • Delivery services would be allowed.
  • Serving sizes would be limited to 10 milligrams of THC, with no more than 100 mg of THC per package.
  • Public use of marijuana would be a civil violation punishable by a $250 fine. That’s ten times the $25 fine under current law, but more severe than the governor’s proposed Class 4 felony. Possession of cannabis by anyone under 21 would be subject to a $25 fine and mandatory participation in a substance abuse treatment or education program or both. The governor suggested treating possession by minors as a Class 1 felony, punishable by a mandatory minimum fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service, as well as a driver’s license suspension of at least six months.
  • Existing medical cannabis operators could enter the adult-use market if they pay a $10 million license conversion fee.
  • Cannabis businesses should implement peaceful labor agreements with their employees.
  • A legislative committee would direct the addition of local consumer licenses and micro-enterprise cannabis event permits that would allow licensees to hold sales at farmers markets or pop-up locations. This provision was also included in the legislation approved by the former legislators, but the governor proposed to delete it.

Meanwhile, the governor signed several other reform bills this session, including measures Resentment relief for people with past cannabis convictions, protecting the parental rights of marijuana users and giving patients access to medical cannabis in hospitals.

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Village Farms International leads B.C. cannabis producers in global export push

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2 days ago

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June 27, 2026

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Village Farms International, one of the world’s largest cannabis production facilities located in Delta, BC, increased its export volumes by more than 500 percent by the end of 2025, with international sales reaching US$37.9 million, or just over 20 percent of total cannabis revenue of US$188 million. The main export markets are Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Israel.

The company is also expanding, developing an additional 550,000 square feet of greenhouse space across the street from its main facility, designed to support both domestic and international cultivation. Orville Bovenschen, VFI’s global president of operations, points to the excise burden as a permanent strain on the domestic economy: “If you look at how much we paid in excise last year, it’s astronomical,” he says, although VFI declined to provide specific figures.

Walker Patton, one of the founders of the BC Cannabis Alliance, which represents about 50 licensed growers in the province, frames the domestic regulatory environment in stark terms: “With the rules that this industry was set up for, it’s like doing business right out of the gate.” Canada’s excise tax structure charges by weight instead of market price, meaning that since wholesale prices have fallen to roughly half of initial projections, effective tax rates for producers have risen.

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Sweetgrass Cannabis, a micro-farm located in the Kootenay region, now derives 60 to 70 percent of its sales from international markets after retreating from provinces such as Ontario and Alberta. Company CEO Gemma Hayes says: “Margins, as well as export opportunities, drove our decision.” Ontario’s wholesale markup of up to 25 per cent, layered with excise taxes, spurred what Hayes described as a “race to the bottom.”

Rubicon Organics, a Vancouver-based publicly traded company, entered international markets last year and recently opened a 47,500-square-foot facility in Hope in part to meet overseas demand. Speaking from the International Cannabis Conference in Berlin, Mathieu Aubin, director of marketing and new business, said: “Canada is very well positioned to access international markets for reliable and safe cannabis,” noting that reliability and product integrity are key to gaining access to the medical market.

Not all producers have equal access to these markets. Alex Rumi, founder of grower Good Buds out of Salt Spring Island, said established export markets are structured around an indoor pharmaceutical-style model that hurts sun-grown cannabis, and that Canada’s export system “works for big growers and doesn’t work for craft.” Julia Cameron, president of Cannabis Cultivators of BC and chair of communications and corporate affairs for the VFI, added that growers must secure permits for each shipment while navigating different rules across countries, creating a prohibitive barrier for small operators.

BC has more than 200 licensed growers and accounts for roughly a quarter of Canada’s legal cannabis production, but represents only 14 percent of national exports. Lana Popham, B.C.’s Minister of Agriculture and Food, points to the FIFA World Cup games in Vancouver as a near-term possibility: “It will be interesting to see how many people engage with what is a great product here in B.C.”

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