Oklahoma House Passes Medical Protection Bill

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]O[/dropcap]klahoma legislators have passed a medical protection bill, known as the “Unity Bill,” which provide safeguards for the cannabis-using community in the state. This bill is now officially passed by the House and the Senate.

House Bill 2612, presented by House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, and also known as the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act, passed the state House with a 93-5 vote, and then passed the Senate. This bill represents a bipartisan effort to create a good framework for patients.

The purpose of the bill is to protect patients and their much-needed access to medical cannabis. It prohibits any restrictions on types or forms of medical cannabis products, which makes patients feel better about avoiding a future smokable cannabis ban, or some kind of restriction on THC content allowed.

This new bill also prohibits schools or landlords from refusing to enroll students or allow people to rent because of their medical cannabis use. It also protects parents from losing custody of their kids because they are cannabis patients. The bill also lays out guidelines for businesses, patients, and caregivers, as well as for cannabis testing frameworks.

Oklahoma may seem like an unlikely partner for the cannabis industry, but they are actually trying to take some steps away from such restrictive drug policy. They fully realize they have an issue with the opioid epidemic, and even took mega-company Johnson & Johnson to court over it. They also permit youth cannabis patients to use cannabis at school if need be.

With these new protections in place, Oklahoma will be able to protect cannabis patients from future laws that come along. Whether or not recreational cannabis is tweaked when it goes through, medical will be protected.