Oklahoma Gov. Signs Bill to Create Medical Cannabis Training Program for Physicians

Physicians in Oklahoma will soon have to undergo training before
recommending medical cannabis to patients, under a bill signed Monday by
Gov. Kevin Stitt (R). Previously, the state’s rules only required
physicians to be in good standing with their professional boards and
consider “accepted standards a reasonable and prudent physician would
follow” before making a patient recommendation for medical cannabis use.

Under the new law, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) will
collaborate with medical professional organizations to create initial
training requirements and periodic refresher training programs for
physicians who recommend patients to the state’s medical cannabis program.

Stitt also vetoed a bill that would have required OMMA’s Executive Advisory
Council to create a task force to research and provide recommendations on
potential purchase and possession limits for medical cannabis patients.

In his veto message, Stitt said such a task force would be akin to “holding
a meeting to schedule a meeting about meetings.”

“Creating yet another advisory group is bureaucracy dressed up as
productivity. We don’t need more panels, roundtables, or reports that end
up collecting dust,” Stitt wrote in his veto message. “We need action,
leadership, and real solutions.”