New Oklahoma Bill Would Prohibit Foreign Land Ownership In Crackdown On Illicit Cannabis Cultivation

Republican state Representative Danny Williams introduced House Bill 3125 that would prohibit foreign land ownership in Oklahoma to halt illegal cannabis grows in the state, writes Fox 25.

“They said, ‘We want to protect our property against foreign nationals,” Williams said. "A lot of people when they come in, they’re involved in illegal activity and foreign ownership. Rules and laws don’t matter to them. It’s profit.”

Over the past few years, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) arrested more than 250 people involved in illegal cannabis cultivation activities. 

About a year ago, the agency's investigation linked sex trafficking, prostitution, and drug trafficking to medical marijuana farms across the state. These illegal activities seem to be part of an Asian organized crime network. 

“Many of them were Chinese,” Mark Woodward of OBN recently said. “Now some were tied to organized crime out of Mexico, the cartels, we’ve certainly busted a lot of those farms. We’ve raided farms linked to Serbian, Armenian, and Russian. But one of the biggest criminal organizations and concerns are those that are tied back to Chinese organized crime, and the Chinese Communist Party.”

To address this issue, Williams proposed a bill that requires the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) to investigate agricultural land ownership. The measure advanced to the Appropriations and Budget Natural Resources Subcommittee on Monday and is recommended to the full committee. 

“The benefit is: I believe we’re all going to be safer,” Williams said. “We’re really looking at an in-depth look at who owns the property, and how it’s owned. Really hold people accountable to make sure it’s owned by the right people, which are Oklahomans and U.S. citizens.”

ODAFF commented on the new bill in a statement. "At ODAFF as I'm sure you know we don't take particular sides on any potential legislation. If the legislature passes a law that falls under our authority, we will uphold that law."

Illegal Cannabis In Oklahoma 

Last year another measure, Senate Bill 806 sought to regulate illegal operations within Oklahoma’s medical cannabis industry was approved by the full state Senate but was later put on hold in the House. Senator Brent Howard (R), who is behind Senate Bill 806, said the legislation seeks to curb the number of licenses that use an identical physical address on their applications. 

In June 2023, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority revealed cannabis growers are producing 32 times more marijuana than it is necessary to meet the demand. Authorities say the oversupply is probably directing large amounts of cannabis out of state, contributing to the illegal market.

The state regulators have undertaken massive efforts to crack down on these illicit marijuana operations.

“Over the past year, we’ve increased our compliance and enforcement efforts quite a bit,” Porsha Riley, OMMA public information officer and public relations manager told Benzinga.”We’ve completed nearly 7,000 inspections and 4,600 operational status visits, seized and embargoed tons of illicit cannabis, made an arrest and assisted our law enforcement partners across the state several times to investigate complaints and conduct search warrants. These actions are examples of our commitment to hold bad actors accountable, uprooting those operating criminally from our medical market. We’ll continue our goal to regulate a safe and fair market through action like this.”

See Also: Secret Shoppers In Oklahoma Cannabis Dispensaries, Nevadans Can Buy Twice As Much Weed & More

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Photo: Courtesy of Dad Grass via Pexels