by Chip Paul
You would think with all the hoopla about “overreach” by the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s Board of Directors last summer would have had an impact on other state agencies. Perhaps they might have learned from Attorney General Mike Hunter’s stern letter advising them of their over reach and the blatant attempt to “stomp” on what WE THE PEOPLE decided on June 26th of last year.
Apparently this lesson was lost on the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. Where do THEY show up in SQ788? Any mention of them with any “powers”? Nope. They are given NO powers under SQ788 and have NOTHING to do with any rule making under the law. In fact, the legislature, or the OMMA food board, would be the only two bodies that could change regulations.
So, very quietly, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics made changes to their medical marijuana rules (which they have no authority to even develop) and submitted those to the Governor. As one of her final acts, Governor Fallin signed the OBN’s suggested rules into the emergency rules for the program.
Of course these faux rules will be beaten back, once again, by WE THE PEOPLE. However, this only happens when folks step up to do the work. The movement owes a big tip of the hat to folks like Ron Durbin who have taken up the legal task of fighting these over reaches.