American Society for Pharmacy Law

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July 16, 2018

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Oklahoma governor and Board of Health sued by pro-marijuana advocates alleging violations of state’s open-meeting law and arbitrary and capricious rule-making
On Friday the 13^th, 2 Oklahoma marijuana advocacy groups files lawsuits arising from the Board of Health’s rule making pursuant to passage of State Question 788, which authorized medical marijuana in Oklahoma. Among the rules adopted by the Board were prohibition of smoked marijuana for medical use and the requirement of pharmacists to be present in medical marijuana dispensaries. Pharmacy and physician groups had proposed the ban on smokable marijuana, according to a report in newsok on July 13.

One suit alleges that the Board president and 4 other members held secret meetings to discuss the rules amendments, in violation of the Oklahoma open meetings act. The second suit alleges that the rule making was arbitrary and capricious, and the “the plain language of SQ 788 does not enable the Oklahoma Health Department to create rules related to the use, ingestion method, distribution, possession or growth of medical marijuana, except as specifically set forth therein.” Both actions allege that rules limiting the concentration of THC, restricting dispensary locations, and prohibiting Sunday hours at dispensaries are arbitrary and capricious, according to the media report. [Wingerter M. Pro-marijuana group sues Fallin over Rx pot rules. newsok 2018 Jul 13; https://bit.ly/2Jy7Mw0]