Less than four months after voters in Oklahoma legalized the use of medical marijuana, more than 12,000 patients have been approved for licenses by state regulators. Nearly 2,000 more licenses have been issued to cannabis businesses, according to a tweet from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA).

Opportunity is growing in Oklahoma's medical marijuana industry as fast as brand-new seedlings. With $5.7 million in licensing fees already collected from patients, caregivers, dispensaries, growers and processors, the state is ready to regulate the new industry.

2 Works for You met a husband-and-wife team determined to make it big in the field of cannabis. Cynthia and Chip Paul co-founded Gnu Pharma and have already launched other companies to meet the needs they anticipate in the medical marijuana industry. They set up operations in a small industrial Park in Owasso.   "We've actually only been here a month," entrepreneur Cynthia Paul said. "We're still pretty new in this facility."  

With dozens of municipalities across Oklahoma putting local ordinances in place to regulate medical marijuana, five cities are now facing lawsuits over restrictions considered too prohibitive to jibe with state law. Dozens of cities across the state have been updating their ordinances and zoning codes in the months since State Question 788 passed with 57 percent support, legalizing medical marijuana in the state.

Tulsa and Broken Arrow were the first to draw lawsuits regarding restrictions, followed by suits filed in Yukon and Sulphur. On Wednesday, plaintiffs in Weatherford filed a new lawsuit over medical marijuana.

In the latter three cities, ordinances passed by city leaders were much more prohibitive than what was being discussed in Broken Arrow and Tulsa.

Oklahoma lawmakers on a legislative working group have unanimously approved recommendations for medical marijuana testing standards. The goal of the 11-page proposal is to ensure medical marijuana products sold in dispensaries are safe, said group co-chair Sen. Greg McCortney, R-Ada.

"We’re going to test it to make sure it doesn’t have poisons, pesticides and also test the potency of it," McCortney said. "Since it’s a medicine, just like any other medicine, you want to make sure it actually has the medicinal values you’re looking for."

The Mayor’s Office is no longer requesting a moratorium on the establishment of medical marijuana facilities and has dropped a key regulation aimed at growers and processors of the product, city councilors learned Wednesday.

State Question 788 allows the use of medical cannabis in Oklahoma, but the legislature is still working on rules for distribution. News 9 sat down with the three gubernatorial candidates to get their take.

Republican Candidate Kevin Stitt said he supports both medical marijuana and the will of the people. New statistics released by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority appear to reinforce just how strong that support is in the Sooner State.

Monday, October 1, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority confirmed 5,111 patient, 36 caregiver, 469 dispensaries, 719 growers and 197 processors have been approved for licenses.

The Sooner State just saw its first-ever legal purchase of a cannabis plant.

The growth and expansion of medical marijuana in Oklahoma hit a key milestone this week. For the first time ever, a marijuana plant has been sold legally in the Sooner State.

This is an important step forward as the state continues figuring out the details of its brand new medical cannabis program.

Oklahoma’s New Medical Marijuana Program

It’s been a big year for marijuana in Oklahoma. In June, voters in the state approved the legalization of cannabis for medical uses. State Question 788 won 56 percent of the vote. On the other side, 43 percent of voters opposed the measure.

It is now legal, and it appears there is enthusiasm for medicinal marijuana in Oklahoma.

Only a few days after the state began accepting commercial license requests, more than 1,100 applications to grow, process or dispense marijuana were crammed into the mailbox of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority within the State Department of Health.

Given the early numbers, supply would exceed demand. By Aug. 31, the state had received just 2,200 patient and caregiver license applications to use medicinal marijuana. Of those, 844 were already approved, but only 45 commercial applications had been processed. Random people visiting downtown who spoke to the Tahlequah Daily Press Wednesday said they were ready to see medicinal marijuana in action.

Would-be patients in the Tulsa area have few options for providers able and willing to sign medical marijuana recommendations, and that may be due to major health care systems telling their doctors not to talk to patients about cannabis treatment options.

It was a big weekend in the Sooner State, as Oklahoma began issuing its first medical marijuana patient licenses.

Cannabis has been a pressing issue in Oklahoma lately. Earlier this summer, voters approved the legalization of medical marijuana. Since then, the state has been moving fast to implement the new program.

As Oklahoma begins the medical marijuana approval process, issuing its first patient licenses, the state has taken a big step toward making medical marijuana a reality.