Oklahoma will implement a seed-to-sale tracking system in 90 days

Medical cannabis pharmacies in Oklahoma will have 90 days to establish the state’s new seed-to-sale monitoring systems, and 180 days to dispense or dispose of any untagged product.

The Oklahoman says that a settlement between the state and the lawyers behind a lawsuit contesting the technology’s adoption as a monopoly has resulted in the seed-to-sale tracking system being deployed in 90 days.

According to the agreement, medical marijuana pharmacies in the state will have 180 days to dispense or dispose of any drug which has not been marked for the system, and the state Medicinal Cannabis Regulator will hold nothing less than five seminars to enlighten entrepreneurs about the scheme and provide skilled workforce who is ready to provide answers about Metrc racking system.

The plaintiffs “received everything [they] needed,” according to Ronald Durbin, who represented Dr. Z Leaf Cultivation, “except for addressing who would pay for the tags used by companies and systems which control and track plants and products.” Businesses must pay for the tags under the Metrc contract, which Metrc estimated would cost $705 per year. Companies involved in this industry must pay $40 per month to use Metrc’s services.

“One of the things we’re most pleased with is that we secured a solid commitment and an order from OMMA to vigorously enforce the seed-to-sell mandate against non-compliant firms,” says the Durbin to the Oklahoman.

The removal of the injunction, according to Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority Director Adria Berry, “is going to clear the single biggest hurdle” regulators have faced in enforcing aspects of the state’s medical cannabis statute.

Following the conclusion fighting for more than one year, Berry told the Oklahoman, “It’s aiming to benefit us with that chain of custody of every single commodity in the state.” “If a product isn’t in the seed-to-sale tracking system, it’s not lawful – and we’ll be able to figure that very immediately.”

Oklahoma legislators and cannabis regulators have all been attempting to bring unregulated cannabis production under the pretense of licensed medical cannabis operations under control. From April 2021 through February 9, 2022, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics reported disbanding 85 farms which were working without Oklahoma official approval. Rep. Rusty Cornwell, the bill’s sponsor, said they need to “ensure present businesses are complying with the law” before moving forward with getting the license for medical cannabis in Oklahoma.