Blazing Trails in New Laws

It’s no longer the laughable, yet hapless Cheech and Chong images one gets when they think of marijuana users; the billows of smoke enveloping the two men holding a burning joint, eyes barely open and funky, grass-burning skunky smell. Because of its medicinal uses, the Cheech and Chong stereotypes have dissipated, but not disappeared altogether;  “stoners” will always be around.  Today’s cannabis users are the mother, executive, or neighbor you see daily and come from all walks of life. 

The benefits of medical marijuana have been expounded on and are relatively simple. It has been proven to help ease symptoms of neurological conditions, to calm nausea after chemotherapy in cancer patients, and to treat epilepsy, as well as other medical conditions. When Oklahoma passed House Bill 788 in June 2018, relief enveloped those people suffering from cancer, MS, epilepsy, and Parkinson's. While the prescription and use are simple, the laws about who can buy, grow, process, or sell cannabis products and laws about the variations of product can be incredibly overwhelming.  

For entrepreneurs, the marijuana business seemed lucrative and soon dispensaries popped up everywhere, sometimes as many as four stores on a city block. Recreational users tried to sell their homegrown stash in store fronts, but soon realized it wasn’t as simple to do so as originally thought. Many regulations have to be followed and licenses obtained to legally grow, process, and sell marijuana products. On top of that, those who used the products realized that getting medicinal marijuana legally was not as simple as running to the nearest dispensary. The industry is multifaceted and each aspect has its own rules, regulations, and laws beginning with the growth of the plant, the processing, and the selling and buying of cannabis products. 

Sarah Lee Gossett Parrish knows all the rules. She is a third generation lawyer who practices in Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado. Ms. Parrish is a pioneer in marijuana law, named by The Cannabis Law Report as one of its Global Top 200 Editorially Selected Cannabis Legal Professionals.  Ms. Parrish is a veteran civil litigator and appellate attorney with a background in business law, contracts, insurance coverage and defense, and oil and gas law. Once Oklahomans passed State Question 788 to legalize medical marijuana, she focused her efforts on assisting cannabis entrepreneurs in starting their medical marijuana businesses and staying compliant with the ever-changing Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority Rules and other applicable Oklahoma law.  Clients asked her to represent them in various aspects of Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry, so she obliged. She represents growers, processors, dispensaries, and ancillary businesses in the cannabis industry. Ms. Parrish has been recognized as a pioneer (a trail blazer) in cannabis law in 2019 by the National Law Journal and voted Top Cannabis Law Firm by Journal Record’s Readers Choice Awards two years running.   She  is dedicated to informing people about the laws pertaining to cannabis. She speaks about the changing laws at conferences and expos throughout the state such as CannaCon South I and II, and Emerging Industry Professional’s OK Cannabis Expo. She contributes articles to industry publications such as Marijuana Venture, Oklahoma’s own Herb-Age Magazine, and Cannabis Business Executive. Additionally, Ms. Parrish has shared some of the highlights with Okie Charmed Magazine.

In order to buy cannabis products, a patient must apply for a medical marijuana card after getting a recommendation from a board-certified physician. If the physician approves, the patient then applies through the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA), and will receive their card in approximately two weeks. 

Laws pertaining to growing, processing, and selling marijuana are evolving. According to Ms. Parrish, OMMA’s most recent Emergency Rules became effective in November 2021, and there are numerous bills under consideration by the state legislature at this time, that would further regulate the industry 

For more information, visit the OMMA website at https://oklahoma.gov/omma.html, Ms. Parrish’s website at www.slgparrishlaw.com or her blog at https://cannalawbiz.wpcomstaging.com/.