| Medical Patients won a landmark ruling in Oklahoma District Court on Wednesday when Judge Patrick Pickerill granted full relief to the plaintiff, a medical cannabis retail dispensary owner and went much further by also prohibiting the city from predatory fees and requirements which violate patient privacy laws. The statutes passed by the entire state's voter base just last June, has explicit language to keep municipalities from making special ordinances on this medical treatment. If the patient and dispensary have proper certification by the Oklahoma Dept. of Health, then the healthcare is to be treated no differently than Oklahoma's current pharmacies and the patrons they serve. The only local stipulation is that dispensaries remain 1000 feet from the doorway of schools. Pickerill ruled that Broken Arrow has no legal grounds to limit medical marijuana business activities. "The Court finds that, as a matter of law, Oklahoma cities are precluded from adopting regulations, zoning overlays, fees or other restrictions as to the medical marijuana business activities authorized by Oklahoma’s Medical Marijuana Act, 63 O.S. sec. 420A, et seq. (“Act”), and that Broken Arrow’s Ordinances 3540 and 3542 as revised and adopted on September 18, 2018 were restrictions adopted by Broken Arrow that are not permissible under the Act," Pickerill wrote. |  Patrick Pickerill, District Court Judge |
 Retailer, Austin Mill & Attorney Ron Durbin | The judge added: "The Court grants Declaratory Judgment for Plaintiffs Cloudi Mornings, LLC and Austin Mill." Miller previously said It took years of planning and thousands of dollars for him to prepare to open a medical marijuana business. Durbin has been a major litigator and negotiator in the process of implementation of Oklahoma Medical Cannabis law and emergency rules. He has several clients which include patients, businesses, and trade associations. He has been a contributor to proposed legislation and revised Health Dept. Rules. Currently, pharmacies can sell opiates and methamphetamines from retail locations adjacent to schools, children are allowed to shop in pharmacies unattended by adults. Durbin is preparing yet more lawsuits against state agencies for more widespread illegal prohibitions on cannabis medicines and the ill people who rely on the treatment. |
Today, a group of businesses announced two key legal challenges to some arbitrary agency decisions to make up fees and added layers of taxes on the medical marijuana businesses. The Bureau of Narcotics started charging a $250 fee to businesses who have already paid a $2500 biannual business license. And despite the voters's approval of a 7% tax on sales of cannabis medicines, the Oklahoma Tax Commission arbitrarily decided that the voters intended that to be an excise tax in addition to the nearly 10% that most retailers charge for all state & local sales taxes.
