The annual City Council-mayor retreat Wednesday was a first step in the joint effort to set the city of Tulsa’s priorities for the upcoming year. Among highlights of that discussion: city staff with medical marijuana patient licenses.
Currently, the city can test employees for drug use and can discipline an employee if THC metabolites are detected.
City Councilor Grant Miller suggested the city take another look at the policy, arguing that it should consider treating medical marijuana as it would any other prescription medication.
Medical marijuana has been legal in Oklahoma since a statewide vote in 2018.
Miller said this is a particularly important issue because of the opioid crisis that has affected communities across the country, including Tulsa.
“We have got doctors handing out prescriptions to city staff and to firefighters for the very same thing we are allegedly trying to combat,” Miller said. “It’s a big problem.”
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Mayor G.T. Bynum told councilors he is open to discussing the issue further, but he stressed after the meeting that he does not know the subject well enough to make an informed decision.
“The challenge for me is: If it is a drug that Oklahomans can lawfully utilize, but we screen it, there is a discrepancy there,” Bynum said. “The reason that it is provided for in state law that public safety personnel can’t utilize it, I think, is because of the challenge around testing for intoxication.
“And I don’t know how we can do that in a quick, easy way. We don’t want to have situations where we have people intoxicated operating public-safety machinery or responding to public-safety emergencies.”
10 things that are still illegal under Oklahoma’s medical marijuana laws
Can’t get a prescription for marijuana
Marijuana is listed as a schedule 1 controlled substance in federal law, so it cannot be prescribed, only “recommended.”
A Ninth Circuit Court ruling ensures protection for doctors who issue recommendations to patients who may benefit from cannabis-based treatments, but federal law precludes doctors from “aiding and abetting” patients obtaining marijuana. This means doctors and patients cannot discuss dosages, strains or specific cannabis products for treating a specific ailment. Doctors instead fill out a form indicating they have discussed the risks of marijuana use with the patient and feel the benefits are worth the treatment.
Some patients who see physicians for pain and are treated with opioids also may not be able to do so and use medical marijuana as a licensed patient.
Can’t use marijuana in the workplace or be impaired on the job
State Question 788 says only that an employer may not discriminate against an employee simply because of their status as a medical marijuana patient. This means that simply having a license cannot be grounds for termination or discipline. That employer can still, however, write and enforce rules that restrict the use of marijuana by employees just like any other controlled substance. No patients would be protected if they come to work high, use marijuana in the workplace or attempt to do their job while impaired.
Can’t transport marijuana across state lines
Patients who obtain medical marijuana cards in other states may purchase from dispensaries there, but the products may not be brought back to Oklahoma. Nor could a patient travel to a state with a recreational marijuana law and bring any legally obtained products back to Oklahoma. Those patients who plan to cultivate marijuana at their own homes would also not be permitted to obtain seeds from another state.
Can’t get a doctor’s recommendation inside a dispensary
A change to the law made it illegal to post a physician inside a medical marijuana dispensary, as this one did, for customers to sign up as patients inside the retail business operation.
Can’t try the product while shopping
The use of any cannabis product is prohibited inside a licensed medical marijuana business, so patients should not expect samples like what some CBD shops have been able to offer.
Can’t smoke marijuana where tobacco also prohibited
The law makes cannabis like tobacco when it comes to public consumption by falling under the Smoking in Public Places and Indoor Workplaces Act.
Can’t give marijuana away
Nothing in the law allows for patients to transfer ownership of marijuana. Patients cannot donate or sell marijuana, even to other patients. Licensed patients may cultivate marijuana on their own residential property or, with written permission, on rented property. They cannot grow outdoors unless the plants are surrounded by a locked 6-foot fence. If the yield of the plants at harvest surpasses the legal amount that may be in a patient’s possession, the marijuana must be either processed or destroyed. Patients may process their own marijuana for concentrates or edibles but would not be permitted to perform extractions using butane.
Can’t drive while impaired on marijuana
Although it is legal for patients to have a certain amount of marijuana on their person, if that patient is behind the wheel, a law enforcement officer will evaluate whether the person is at all impaired. Driving while under the influence remains illegal even for medical marijuana patients.
Can’t possess an excessive amount of marijuana
A patient remains within the legal guidelines if they possess no more than 3 ounces of marijuana on their person and 8 ounces at their residence, 1 ounce of concentrated marijuana, and 72 ounces of edible marijuana. If caught exceeding those limitations, a patient would lose their license and could face criminal charges including intent to distribute or trafficking.
Can’t smoke where you’re told not to
Renters have no legal right to smoke medical marijuana, even with a patient card, if the landlord/owner issues rules for residents that prohibit smoking.
The legalization of recreational marijuana is happening in Missouri and Maryland in 2023 after being approved by voters in 2022.
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