You’re doing fine, Oklahoma… at least when it comes to supplying the nation with marijuana!
Earlier this week, KFOR filed a report highlighting some stats and claims the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics made about the state’s thriving black-market marijuana industry.
To the chagrin of agency and its longtime propaganda chief Mark Woodward – a.k.a. the dude who didn't have friends in high school – the underground Oklahoma weed economy is going gangbusters, providing much-needed edibles, flower, and concentrates to folks in dry states all over the country, especially Texas.
Via KFOR:
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) revealed startling statistics about the trafficking of illegal marijuana from Oklahoma to other states.
“Just about every other state in the United States, at some point, was receiving large amounts, semi-trucks of black-market marijuana that was grown in Oklahoma,” said Mark Woodward with the OBN.
Since Oklahoma voters made medical marijuana legal in 2018, the OBN says law enforcement agencies in other states have alleged that at one point, 40% of America’s black market marijuana comes from here.
Wow! That’s some impressive stuff!
I know I’m not some authoritarian, controlling, fun-hater who thinks my stringent moral code should determine how other people live their private lives, but you’d think this is something we’d be promoting, embracing, and – most importantly – exploiting for the public good!
Seriously, we're finally good at something that doesn't revolve around oil, arts and crafts or simple, modern insulated cups, and instead of trying to make Oklahoma America’s home for weed in the same way tobacco is for North Carolina or bourbon is for Kentucky – we reject it.
Just think of all the money we’ve lost from not being smart enough to crack down, regulate, and tax the shit out all the weed we export each year:
“From 2023 to 2024, in a 12-month period, there were 87 million pounds of marijuana that were tagged in METRC, and only 1.9 million were actually sold. So you’re talking about over 85 million pounds that’s unaccounted for,” Woodward said.
Yep, we allegedly shipped 85 million pounds of marijuana out of this state – you’re welcome, America – and we didn’t get to tax one single dime of it. That’s crazy even by moronic Oklahoma standards!
For example, a modest $10 tax per pound of whole weed shipped out of state would net, even with a 50% collection rate, nearly $500 million. That seems a fair price to make sure out largest market – Texas – can still get high, right?
Wait. We're making sure Texans of all types can get high and that's... a bad thing? Instead of making scary looking graphics, they should be sending us thank you notes!
Unfortunately, instead of trying to figure out how the wholesale black market can be legalized and turned into our state’s biggest cash crop, our politicians and their police state allies continue to crack down:
Woodward says the OBN has successfully reduced marijuana grows in the state from 8,400 to about 1,500, and many of those remaining grow operations are still being investigated.
“There’s also a lot of these farms that half of their plants are not tagged, and we’ll never know exactly how many millions of pounds are leaving this state untaxed, untraceable, onto the black market at the peak of this,” Woodward added.
On behalf of all the Oklahomans who don’t care if people get high or not, I’d like to formally apologize to the rest of America for the sudden disruption to your black-market weed supply! Let’s hope the shortage doesn’t trickle down to the state’s black market supply, because I’d hate to have to get a medical card again!
By the way, that's another thing they're making harder to get.
From Fox 23:
New Oklahoma medical marijuana law brings changes for doctors
A new Oklahoma law tied to medical marijuana access is now in effect, bringing significant changes for physicians.
Senate Bill 1066, which took effect January 1, requires physicians to complete additional education specifically focused on medical marijuana before they can recommend it to patients. The law also reinforces that doctors must be registered with the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) in order to issue recommendations.
Hey, Einsteins! Want to put a dent in the Oklahoma black market? Instead of putting in place more burdensome boundaries, maybe make it easier for the people who live here to buy weed. I know that's not super judgmental, and it will force law enforcement to focus on bigger issues, but that will accomplish more than whatever they're doing now.
Anyway, back to Oklahoma being America's mecca for weed...
Although I wish our state’s leaders would follow my suggestion, embrace our position as an industry leader, and really make it our next cash crop – maybe even convert defunct chicken farms into marijuana grows – I’m not going to hold my breath and inhale and wait. We’re a bottom-10 state for a reason, and rejecting logic and reason has always been a big reason why.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
