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Earlier this year, Oklahoma authorities placed a moratorium on issuing new business licenses to medical marijuana shops in order to do further reseach into the increasing number of appplications and whether some may be fronting for drug cartels. The result of the study has produced new laws that will take effect in 2023.

Included int those laws are tiered commercial grower fees that will not be based on the volume produced by the grower rather than a set rate so as to assure that larger farms are paying a higher share of the costs of commercial growing and to deter large cartels from setting up shop in Oklahoma. Adjustments to packaging, a validation program of product, and restrictions on where farms can be located, along with postings of clear and frequent signage are also part of the new laws for growers.

For those who distribute the OMMA products, there are now municipal guidelines that address how and when a temporary license can be issued to medical personnel, and a requirement that all distributors establish a relationship with local sheriffs' departments for partnering in enforcing distribution regulations. Each distributor must also set up and maintain a "secret shopper" program to monitor consistency in product and protection of underage buyers. And there is an enhancement of current penalties for unlawful diversion of product from seller to buyer who then passes the product on to a non-legal user.

The moratorium on new business licenses was also extended to August 1, 2024.