NORMAN, Okla. – An effort by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt for a statewide referendum on the continued legality of medical marijuana is running into headwinds among providers and some elected officials.
During his State of the State address, Stitt called on lawmakers to ask voters to revisit their approval of medical marijuana after eight years of legality. The mayor of the state’s third-largest city says a revote is economically and logistically impractical.
“You have an industry that already exists,” said Norman Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman. “You have an untold number of people and families in Oklahoma who invested their life savings to open a business and have been doing everything they can to comply with evolving state regulations and enforcement over the last few years.”
Medical Marijuana’s Economic Impact Across Oklahoma
On Feb. 2, his final State of the State address, Stitt proposed a statewide revote to possibly end the medical marijuana industry in Oklahoma. That leaves dispensaries, growers and medical marijuana patients facing an uncertain future.
According to the Oklahoma Tax Commission, the medical marijuana industry generated about $83 million in tax revenue in 2021. But in 2024, revenue decreased to about $58 million. The city of Norman recorded nearly $1.25 million in sales taxes in fiscal 2025. Since July 2025, the city has received nearly $725,000 in sales taxes from medical marijuana sales.
“It’s an economic driver. It generates sales tax revenue for the city of Norman. Cannabis businesses fill what would otherwise be or were previously vacant storefronts. It employs a lot of people,” Holman said.
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt did not return inquiries seeking comment on Stitt’s proposal. A spokesman for Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols expressed that they had nothing further to add at this time.
Nationwide, the medical marijuana industry employed 425,000 people in 2025.
In 2021, Oklahoma was reported to have 16,000 people working in the industry. But tighter growing regulations, such as seed-to-sale tracking, enforcement of foreign ownership, and higher fees, contributed to an employment drop. By March of 2024, about 11,000 Oklahomans were working in the industry.
State Officials Cite Crime and Illegal Operations
Stitt said his primary concern is illicit activity surrounding medical marijuana.
“These storefronts hide an industry that enables cartel activity, human trafficking and foreign influence in our state,” Stitt said.
Oklahoma Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Gentner Drummond agreed with Stitt in some regards, but expressed worries that the removal of medical marijuana would have legal implications.
“As a lawyer, I’m concerned about the taking. As a law enforcement officer, I’d love for it to be gone,” Drummond said.
Forty percent of the marijuana sold in New York City comes from Oklahoma, Drummond claimed in 2023.
Last year, a federal grand jury indicted five men on charges of operating a drug conspiracy involving the distribution of more than 1,000 marijuana plants.
Last month, agents from the state Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized 6,737 plants and 1,244 pounds of processed cannabis and arrested the owner of a marijuana grow south of Tulsa. The grow license was subsequently revoked by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority due to a fraudulent growing license.
Patients and Dispensaries Defend Medical Use
Holman offered a unique perspective, as he occasionally works at The Friendly Market dispensary and helps customers obtain medical cards legally.
“Based on my own observation, the vast majority of people in Norman I see patronizing dispensaries, and those businesses are older folks, generally people that are retired, retired military, police, firefighters, teachers, and medical healthcare workers, who are in large part trying to cut down on prescription opioid dependence and things like that,” said Holman.
Dispensary Owners Warn of Industry Rollback
Chronic Solutions, the first medical marijuana dispensary in Norman, echoed the mayor’s sentiment.
“Most of our patients, a lot of them are in pain, whether it’s a cancer diagnosis or just regular pain, but this is medicine that helps terminal patients, and a lot of them get side effects from big pharma,” said Jessica Gaulden, co-founder of Chronic Solutions. “They still have to take some medication, but there are a lot of our patients who had Xanax addictions. This got them off of it.?So, I believe that cannabis is a great dragon. It helps a lot of people.”
Tim Gaulden, co-founder of Chronic Solutions, said the industry has not always been perfect, but the governor’s recent actions seem extreme.
“He’s (Stitt) starting to go backwards, especially at the federal level, where they moved it from Schedule I to Schedule III,” said Tim Gaulden. “Obviously, that’s moving forward in the right direction. He’s trying to back it up, and he’s gonna ruin a lot of good businesses out there.”
Marijuana was classified as a Schedule I substance by Congress under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies Schedule I drugs as those that have no accepted medical use and have a high potential to be abused. In December of 2025, President Trump signed an executive order to move marijuana to a Schedule III drug, defining it as having much less addictive chemicals than a Schedule I and a minimal dependence.
Patients Say Medical Marijuana Provides Critical Relief
Business owners are not the only stakeholders in this discussion. From July 2023 to June 2024, the number of medical marijuana cardholders in Oklahoma fluctuated slightly but remained roughly around 350,000. A freshman at OU who asked that her name not be used weighed in on her experience having a medical marijuana card.
“It makes it easier because I can just go to the store and get what I need, and it’s just as simple as that. I had back problems before, and it helps a lot with it,” she said.
The student thinks a vote is unnecessary, but she said the industry could use some reforms.
“I know some places they don’t even consistently ask; you just show the card once,” she said. “Yours can expire, and you really need to watch that because then it can get you in trouble if you get pulled over with it, and you didn’t know your card had expired.”
