Delays in implementing Oklahoma’s “seed-to-sale” tracking system for medical marijuana have sowed confusion for businesses in the fast-growing cannabis industry as law enforcement authorities step up their enforcement efforts for illicit marijuana products.

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority’s efforts at putting the seed-to-sale system in place at the end of April was delayed by a lawsuit from a group of businesses who said the state was forcing them to buy the tags needed to track the cannabis products. A judge in Okmulgee County agreed to halt implementation until the end of June.

Oklahoma voters approved medical marijuana in 2018 under State Question 788. Most states with legal medical or recreational cannabis markets have some type of tracking system to verify that products are grown, processed, transported and sold under the law. The state’s seed-to-sale system was part of House Bill 2612, the so-called “unity bill,” in 2019.

There is broad agreement among cannabis businesses that seed-to-sale is needed to ensure legal products and enable quicker consumer recalls if there are health or safety problems with a particular product. But how the state chose its vendor and how much businesses should bear the costs of regulation has split many in the industry. [Read More @ Oklahoma Watch]