A newly introduced bill seeks to ban foreign ownership of land in Oklahoma in an attempt to curb illegal cannabis cultivation. House Bill 3125 was introduced to the Oklahoma House of Representatives earlier this month, and most recently on Feb. 19 it was recommended to the full Appropriations and Budget Natural Resources Subcommittee.

HB-3125 is sponsored by Rep. Danny Williams, who represents District 28 in Oklahoma. Recently he told Fox25 that foreign land ownership is one of the biggest problems in his area. “A lot of people when they come in, they’re involved in illegal activity and foreign ownership,” Williams said. “Rules and laws don’t matter to them. It’s profit.”

According to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control (OBN), more than 250 people have been arrested in connection to illegal cannabis cultivation since 2021. The issue began to escalate after the pandemic began.

In an interview with OBN representative Mark Woodward in September 2023, he explained the nationalities of many of the arrested individuals. “Many of them were Chinese,” said Woodward. “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.”

HB-3125 would task the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry (ODAFF) to landowners. “The benefit is: I believe we’re all going to be safer,” said Williams about the bill. “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.”

Fox25 obtained a statement from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau (OKFB), which shared its interest in finding a solution to the land ownership problem. “Oklahoma Farm Bureau members have a vested interest in land ownership, and while Oklahoma has some of the strongest land ownership laws in the United States, loopholes can be found in any law,” the organization said. “OKFB is assessing current proposals and working with key stakeholders to find a responsible solution for our state’s family farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.”

In July 2022, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt spoke about the state being threatened by the Chinese “Communist Party.” “We pulled the stats, and Oklahoma was the Number 1 (in) land purchases by the communists or foreign nationals (in 2020) than any other state, it’s like 380,000 acres,” said Stitt. “That’s a red flag for anybody.” A report from The Lawton Constitution shared that between 2015 and 2021, foreign land ownership increased by 300%.

Nebraska is the only other state that surpassed that growth in the same time period. According to the Nebraska Farm Bureau, 1.5% of the state’s private land is foreign-owned (73% is owned by Canadian investors, while 36% belongs to Italian investors.) 

The Oklahoma constitution prohibits foreign land ownership, but a loophole was created by a 1981 court case that allowed a Canadian investment company to purchase land in Oklahoma under the condition that it conducts qualified business. The Lawton Constitution adds that exceptions were also made for foreign-based companies to establish swine and poultry businesses in Oklahoma in the 1970s.

The Agriculture Foreign Investments Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA) requires foreign companies to report their purchase or land leases, but there isn’t enough enforcement to ensure that landowners are self-reporting. USDA’s Deputy Under Secretary Gloria Montaño Greene told The Lawton Constitution last September that the AFIDA reporting system is all paper-based, and the process hasn’t been updated since it was established. “Companies print out legal descriptions from their internal electronic land management systems and mail their hard copy AFIDA filings in bankers’ boxes to USDA,” Greene said. “We currently have no way to electronically identify the geographic location of AFIDA filings more specifically than at the county level.”

Two other bills were recently introduced in the Oklahoman legislature as well, which aim to add metering requirements for water use. “The surface water is basically owned or regulated by the state,” said Sen. Brent Howard about Senate Bill 1341. “Groundwater is owned by the individuals, but it is subject to regulation by the state. We’re trying to get some teeth behind that, some coordination between those two.” 

Another bill, Senate Bill 1352, would specifically require cannabis cultivators to pay $1.25 for every 1,000 gallons of water used, no matter if it comes from a private well or public water. “A typical marijuana plant requires six gallons of water a day,” Sen. David Bullard said. “We want to make sure that we’re metering that and using those funds to be able to store and capture more of that water.”

Some legislators such as Sen. Shane Jett voted against SB-1352, claiming that it would negatively affect law-abiding businesses. “Individuals who are stealing water from farms, by using fire hoses and siphoning off under cover of darkness—those people are not going to be paying these fees,” said Jett. “The ones who are the moms and pops who are already struggling to stay open after sinking their life funds because they thought this was the new economic boom coming for Oklahoma.”

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An illegal pot farm is up for grabs on an auctioning website, and law enforcement officers from a sheriff’s office in Oklahoma are the ones selling it. After a surge in both legal and illegal cannabis operations, seized assets are left behind in the aftermath.

The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office in Tishomingo, Oklahoma posted the seized farm on Bidz4Assets.com, a Maryland-based auction website, featuring a 19.24-acre lot near Coleman. Bids will be available from Sept. 11 to Sept. 13 at an online auction. 

Other seized items are up from grabs as well. The list of seized assets include grow lights, light controllers, HVAC systems, wall fans, water pumps, refrigerators, etc.

The opening bid is $755,006, and a single $25,035.00 deposit, including a $35 nonrefundable processing fee, is required to participate. Deposits must be received here by Bid4Assets no later than the end of day on Wednesday, September 6. 

“We’re looking to find buyers who will take ownership of this property and use it responsibly, which was certainly not happening under the previous owners,” Johnston County Sheriff Gary Dodd said in a statement. “Let it be known throughout the county that if you use your farm to grow illegally, we will seize it and we will sell it.”

The bid comes with the following disclaimers: “Johnston County Sheriff’s Office retains the right to reject any and all bids for any reason. Johnston County Sheriff’s Office may withdraw this property from the auction at any time before or during the sale. Johnston County Sheriff’s Office reserves the right to cancel the sale of a property at any time prior to the issuance of the deed.”

Local and state law enforcement agents periodically raid illegal grow operations, seizing millions of dollars’ worth of illegal cannabis. At one farm near Coleman, authorities reportedly seized about 20,000 illegally grown cannabis plants valued at over $30 million. 

The Oklahoman reports that in a news release, Bid4Assets said it “collaborated” with sheriffs and attorneys to pass legislation allowing foreclosure auctions to be conducted online.

On May 25, 2022, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 976, spearheaded by Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt.

Oklahoma’s black market for cannabis has been a major issue.

In 2021, a senior senator from Oklahoma sought millions of dollars in federal funds to battle illegal cannabis growing operations in the state.

Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican, asked for $4 million in federal funds to help Oklahoma drug law enforcement agents fight illegal operations, according to local television station KFOR.

The illicit operations have frustrated the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. KFOR reports that the bureau’s director, Donnie Anderson, has expressed worry if international drug organizations and cartels could move into Oklahoma to take advantage of medical cannabis.

As Anderson and other state officials see it, those organizations and cartels are procuring a legitimate medical cannabis license that they use to cultivate, and then are selling the product to surrounding states where pot prohibition is still in place.

Oklahoma’s Oversupply of Cannabis

Oklahoma voters legalized the use and sale of medical cannabis when they approved State Question 788 in 2018, a ballot measure that created the most loosely regulated legal cannabis market in the nation. 

Fox 23 reported that Oklahoma produces 32 times the amount of cannabis it actually needs. The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) published a study demonstrating that Oklahoma produces a lot more cannabis than consumers can handle. 

“The study found the supply-and-demand ratio in Oklahoma is 64 grams of regulated medical cannabis supplied for every 1 gram of demand for a licensed patient,” the study reads. “The study states a ratio of 2 grams of supply for every 1 gram of demand is a healthy market, putting Oklahoma’s functional supply-and-demand ratio at 32:1.”

In May 2022, Oklahoma lawmakers passed House Bill 3208, which put a two-year pause on issuing new licenses for medical cannabis businesses. At the time, Mark Woodward, public information officer for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN), said the state approved over 2,200 medical cannabis dispensaries, making oversight of the businesses by state regulators a big logistical challenge.

“That’s a tremendous amount of dispensaries,” Woodward told KTUL in Tulsa. “It’s more than California, Oregon, Alaska, Washington, Nevada and New Mexico combined.”

A few things are being done to help control the market.

Oklahoma lawmakers passed a dozen bills last year that are designed to tighten regulations on the state’s medical cannabis industry, including a requirement that new dispensaries and cultivation operations be located at least 1,000 ft. from schools.

Last March, Oklahoma voters rejected a state question that would have allowed for adult-use cannabis, following a rash of opposition from faith leaders, law enforcement, and prosecutors.

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Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt recently renewed a moratorium on new medical cannabis businesses. Stitt originally signed legislation for the ban in May 2022, which took effect in August 2022 and was set to expire in August 2024. However, upon signing HB-2095 earlier this month, the moratorium was updated with an extension until August 1, 2026.

The bill gives authority to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangers Drugs Control, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to manage the state’s medical cannabis regulation, according to a news report from Oklahoma News4. These agencies will have power to investigate law violations in regards to any commercial cannabis cultivators, processors, researchers, and more.

HB-2095 also states that it’s illegal for medical cannabis growers to employ undocumented immigrants, and establishes a new rule stating that only one cultivation license may be used for a single address or property.

Oklahoma Attorney General Getner Drummond praised the governor for taking action against illegal cannabis activity. “I want to thank Gov. Stitt, as well as Rep. Echols and Sen. Paxton, for this tremendous step forward in Oklahoma’s efforts to stamp out illegal marijuana grow operations,” said Drummond. “The illegal marijuana industry is crawling with Mexican cartels and Chinese crime syndicates that pose a serious threat to public safety, particularly in our rural communities. Gov. Stitt’s approval of HB-2095 ensures the Attorney General’s Office and our excellent law enforcement partners have the tools and authority to shut down these dangerous criminal enterprises.”

Oklahoma’s medical cannabis program has grown rapidly since it’s first licenses were issued in August 2018. On the first day that licenses were available for application submissions, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) received approximately 1,600 applications. By January 2022, an estimated 400,000 medical cannabis licenses were issued by the OMMA. 

This year in March, Oklahoma voters went to the ballot to decide on recreational cannabis initiative State Question 820. Only 38% voted in favor of the measure, but supporters remain determined. Brian Vicente of Vicente LLP told High Times that “there is still more work to be done” in regard to legalization.

Just after the ballot results, Gov. Stitt discussed the results of the measure with reporters. “I don’t think anybody expected it to be defeated that bad, but as I was traveling the state, I knew Oklahomans didn’t want it,” said Stitt. “They were so tired of a dispensary on every single corner.”

Stitt stated that while he wants to allow patients to use medical cannabis if it can benefit them, but he doesn’t believe that “anybody with a hangnail should be able to get a medical card.”

He also shared that there’s enough cannabis in Oklahoma to supply demand across the country. “That is not what this is supposed to be,” said Stitt. “This was supposed to be medical use in the state of Oklahoma, and it has gotten way out of control. So we have to get rid of the bad actors. We have got to get control over that industry.”

Other legislation introduced after the defeat of State Question 820 have also targeted the illegal industry and some of its common problems.

Recently, Senate Bill 913 was introduced earlier this month, which would require a $50,000 bond for those who obtain a grow license. Should a cultivation property be abandoned, it provides funds to clean up the area. “Ultimately, this will help clean up valuable farmland that has been harmed by illegal operations and allows OMMA or any other appropriate state agency to recoup costs associated with the cleanup,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Darcy Jech. SB-913 was signed by Gov. Stitt on April 20.

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Oklahoma voters could be making history next month if they pass a legalization ballot for adult-use cannabis. In preparation for this, advocates have begun to increase their efforts to educate residents and boost awareness with a new internet and TV ad campaign.

“Get the facts about State Question 820. The law will regulate and tax marijuana for adults 21 and up,” the new Yes on 820 video states. “It has strict safety requirements for labeling, childproof packaging, and quantity limits to keep us and our kids safe. Plus, it will generate millions for schools and health care, and free up police resources to focus on serious violent crime to make our communities safer. It’s working in other states. It’s time for Oklahoma.”

State Question 820 is the only question on the ballot, and volunteers with Yes on 820 have been out spreading the word. “Shoutout to our awesome volunteers for a huge Saturday canvass! We’re knocking on doors all across our great state reminding folks to vote YES on #SQ820 on March 7, 2023. #YesOn820 #LegalizeIt #Oklahoma #OKC #Tulsa #Norman #Lawton #Stillwater #Edmond #Vote #Election,” the campaign wrote on its Twitter page on Feb. 18. Another post shared the perseverance of volunteers. “Our volunteers knock doors through rain, snow, and injury.”

Campaign Director Michelle Tilley wrote an opinion article for Tulsa World explaining her personal motivation for supporting cannabis legalization, and why others should vote for it as well. “I am a lifelong Oklahoman and a mom of teenaged children. I want my kids to come of age in a prosperous state with good jobs, safe communities and adequately funded state services,” Tilley wrote. “I want to retire here, close to them. For all those reasons I have spent the last 14 months leading the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Oklahoma.”

Tilley continued to explain how legalizing cannabis can improve public safety and protect children across the state. “As a mother, I don’t want my children using marijuana. As someone who remembers being a teenager, I also don’t want my kids—or any kids—to have their lives permanently altered if they make a mistake,” Tilley continued. “A criminal arrest for having a small amount of marijuana can make it hard to go to college or get a job.”

“I want Oklahoma kids to thrive in safe, vibrant communities,” Tilley concluded. “Despite what our opposition says, there is no evidence that legalizing recreational marijuana will harm any children anywhere.”

Originally the legalization initiative was supposed to be on the ballot in November 2022. Advocates collected more than enough signatures, but the initiative wasn’t approved in time. The Oklahoma Supreme Court denied the petition in September 2022. In October, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced that he would be placing State Question 820 on the ballot for a special election to be held on March 7.

If passed, the initiative would legalize possession of up to one ounce of cannabis, and allow residents to grow up to six mature plants for personal use. Cannabis products would include a 15% excise tax, and the law would create an Oklahoma Marijuana Revenue Trust Fund, which would fund the program, public education, and more. Any residents who are currently serving prison time for cannabis would be able to file for a petition for resentencing, and those who have already served their sentence would be able to apply for expungement.

Yes on 820 recently released a report, produced by Vicente Sederberg LLP and the Oklahoma Cannabis Industry Association, which projects that if Oklahoma legalizes adult-use cannabis, it could potentially collect up to $821 million in combined medical and recreational cannabis tax revenue.

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A recent report from Tulsa World states that according to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD), there are a couple thousand unlicensed medical cannabis businesses in the state. “We’ve got close to 2,000 under investigation,” said Mark Woodward, with the Public Information Office at OBNDD. “We’re working with our partners to identify the criminal networks involved.”

Woodward also commented that many of these licenses have been linked to illegal activity. Recently in December 2022, four people were killed “execution style” at a cannabis cultivation facility in Kingfisher County, which is located northwest of Oklahoma City. According to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, the owners of the facility had a medical cultivation license, but OBNDD agents believe that the license was obtained illegally.

Woodward said that those working at illegal cultivation sites are often foreign nationals. “The only thing it did was it shined a light on something we’ve been saying for the last four years,” Woodward said. “It’s the same violent criminal organizations.”

He added that 200 operations have been closed by local law enforcement so far, but the OBNDD is trying to track the source of criminal activity. But until that investigation yields results, Woodward believes that Oklahoma’s medical cannabis industry will continue to suffer. “Something not talked about much is that the legitimate industry is bleeding to death,” Woodward added.

Last year in March, people impersonating police officers performed fake search warrants at numerous cannabis cultivation sites, stealing 100 pounds of cannabis, as well as machines, cash, and cell phones. At the time, Woodward commented on the attacks on cannabis businesses due to the fact that cannabis is still federally illegal, and are forced to mainly deal in cash.

“These farms where there are oftentimes Chinese workers who don’t speak English—they won’t recognize traditional law enforcement,” Woodward told High Times. “They’re not familiar with what Oklahoma law enforcement or what uniforms might look like or what a fraudulent warrant looks like compared to legitimate ones. And so these criminals count on that. That’s why they targeted these specific farms. They saw it as an easy opportunity to take advantage of these workers and hit the farm and take product.” 

Tulsa World shared that some people, such as 3rd District Congressman Frank Lucas, along with 20 other congress members, sent a letter in July 2022 to U.S. Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding the purchase of Oklahoma land by foreign parties. According to the letter, foreign land ownership increased “from 13,720 to 352,140 acres between 2010 and 2020.”

“We are alarmed by the pace at which Chinese companies have been purchasing U.S. agricultural land in recent years. Given this trend, we want to ensure the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has the reporting tools necessary to provide Americans with the fullest possible picture of all foreign purchases of United States land,” the letter stated.

In December 2021, there were 9,400 licensed medical cannabis cultivators. One year later in December 2022 revealed a reduction to 7,086 licenses. Currently, there is a moratorium on new licenses, which went into effect in August 2022 and will end sometime around August 2024.

Medical cannabis was legalized through a voter initiative in 2018, but the state’s low cost of entry (only $2,500 annually) for a cannabis license opened the doors to out-of-state parties. A newer bill, House Bill 2179, was later passed by the governor in May 2022 to increase the annual fees based on the size of a facility or a dispensary’s sales. According to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, this doesn’t go into effect until June 1, 2023.

Although there have been numerous attempts to reign in illegal cannabis activity in Oklahoma, advocates are looking at March to legalize recreational cannabis. Gov. Kevin Stitt set March 7 as the date for a special election where the voter initiative will appear. If passed, State Question 820 would legalize adult-use cannabis and allow cannabis cultivation and sales.

“After all the delays caused by the new signature count process, we are excited to finally be on the ballot on March 7, 2023, so that Oklahomans can experience the benefits of the State Question without further delay,” said Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Law Campaign Director Michelle Tilley. “We are grateful the voices of over 164,000 Oklahomans who signed the petition and want to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana for adults in Oklahoma have been heard.”

Originally it was set to appear in the November 2022 ballot, but the submitted signatures were not certified in time.

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A recreational legalization initiative in Oklahoma may be in jeopardy of not making it to the state ballot this November, despite organizers gathering more than enough signatures to qualify.

The leaders of the “Yes On 820 Campaign” said on Monday that the Oklahoma secretary of state confirmed that the group had submitted more than 117,000 valid signatures –– well above the roughly 95,000 signature threshold for a question to be placed on the state ballot.

But according to the Oklahoma Watch, the group “faces several obstacles in the last part of its journey to the ballot as another challenge period will last at least 10 business days and the state Election Board needs time to print ballots for overseas voters.”

 “The certification by the secretary of state now goes to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which must determine if the signature verification meets the sufficiency requirements. That then starts a 10-day process for anyone to challenge the signature verification,” the Oklahoma Watch reported.

The “Yes on 820 Campaign,” which submitted more than 164,000 signatures to the Oklahoma secretary of state’s office last month, celebrated the validation of the signatures on Monday, but expressed concern that the question will not be in front of the state’s voters come November.

Complicating matters, according to the campaign, is the fact that the Oklahoma secretary of state’s office is using a private vendor in the ballot certification process for the first time.

“The last petition Oklahomans voted on took 17 days to count 313,000 signatures,” Michelle Tilley, the campaign director for “Yes on 820,” said in a statement, as quoted by the Oklahoma Watch. “In contrast, we submitted half that amount and it has taken three times as long. This delay means the election board may not receive the green light to print the ballot in time for voters to vote on it in November.”  

The Oklahoma Watch has more on the bureaucratic minutiae: “The governor has the sole authority to call the election for ballot initiatives once the challenge period expires. For all practical purposes, that means the process must be completed by Friday, the state election board told Gov. Kevin Stitt in a letter dated June 22. It said the statutory deadline is Aug. 29 and is in place because the Election Board has to have time to print and mail absentee ballots to overseas voters like those in the military. In a filing with the Supreme Court, the Yes on 820 campaign said the state’s new signature verification system, run by Western Petition Systems, took longer than anyone anticipated.”

State Question 820 would “safely regulate, and tax recreational marijuana for adults 21+ in Oklahoma,” which the campaign asserts “will generate revenue for important priorities for Oklahomans, including schools, health care, and local governments.”

Oklahoma is one of several traditional “red states” where voters could have the chance to end the prohibition on pot this November, with legalization proposals already qualifying for the ballot in Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Activists in those states, citing reams of polling, contend that cannabis legalization is veering on a bipartisan consensus in the country, with conservative and liberal voters alike increasingly backing the policy.

After getting word from the secretary of state’s office, the Yes on 820 campaign said Monday that the “overwhelming number of signatures shows that Oklahomans are ready for sensible marijuana laws.”

Tilley and senior campaign adviser Ryan Kiesel sang a similar tune last month, after turning in the signatures to the secretary of state.

“We’re expecting Oklahomans to say yes to this,” Kissel said at the time.

“Oklahomans don’t think that people should be continually punished for something that’s no longer a crime,” he added.

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