Oklahoma governor’s call to end medical marijuana raises questions about costs, patients, and state revenues

Proposal targets voter-approved program, with economic and regulatory consequences

Oklahoma officials are weighing what it would mean to dismantle the state’s medical marijuana system, a voter-approved program created by State Question 788 in 2018. The issue has intensified after Gov. Kevin Stitt publicly renewed calls to shut down the industry, arguing that the program has created enforcement and public-safety challenges tied to illegal grows and criminal activity.

Any move to eliminate the program would collide with the fact that medical marijuana was established through a ballot measure. Ending it would require major legal and policy changes and would reshape a large regulated market that includes patients, licensed businesses, and state oversight through the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA).

Scale of the program: patients, businesses, and enforcement activity

Oklahoma’s medical marijuana market has grown into a statewide health-access and commercial system. As of February 2026, the state had nearly 320,000 licensed patients and 1,421 dispensaries. OMMA licensing data indicate the broader commercial footprint includes more than 4,300 business licenses across growers, dispensaries, processors, and transporters.

OMMA’s most recent annual reporting also shows an enforcement-heavy regulatory posture. During fiscal year 2024 (July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024), OMMA reported participation in investigations with law-enforcement partners, the filing of administrative cases, and assistance with seizures of illicit marijuana and plants. The agency has described recent years as focused on compliance and identifying fraudulent activity, including ownership issues and front-end license scrutiny.

Fiscal stakes: excise taxes and broader sales taxes

A core question for lawmakers is the budgetary impact of eliminating a revenue-producing market. State Question 788 authorized a 7% excise tax on retail medical marijuana sales, alongside state and local sales taxes collected at the point of sale.

• OMMA reported $51,007,322 in medical marijuana excise tax collections in fiscal year 2024.

• OMMA reported $65,742,279 in state and local sales tax collections connected to retail medical marijuana sales in fiscal year 2024.

While OMMA notes it does not receive sales tax revenue directly and that its budget is now appropriated by the Legislature, the tax figures highlight that the program generates substantial recurring public revenue streams.

Economic disruption and potential liability issues

Beyond taxes, dismantling the program would immediately alter patient access to regulated cannabis products and disrupt licensed businesses operating under state authorization. Industry representatives and some policymakers have warned that a full shutdown would impose major economic dislocation, including job losses and business closures.

There is also a practical policy question of how the state would unwind a licensed system built on private capital investment. In public discussions around elimination, the prospect of compensating or reimbursing business owners has been raised as a potential cost driver, alongside the broader fiscal impact of removing an excise-tax base.

Key unresolved issues include how Oklahoma would unwind a voter-approved program, what would happen to regulated patient access, and how state and local budgets would absorb the loss of marijuana-related tax collections.

What comes next

With the program’s revenue footprint, patient count, and enforcement activity all central to the debate, legislative action is likely to focus on whether Oklahoma seeks further tightening of regulation, structural changes to oversight, or a path toward full repeal. For patients, businesses, and local governments, the outcome would determine whether the state maintains a regulated medical market or attempts a high-cost dismantling of an industry that has become embedded in public finance and healthcare access since 2018.