Oklahoma Governor Says Medical Marijuana Law Has ‘Failed’ And State Should ‘Shut This Broken System Down’

The Republican governor of Oklahoma says the state’s medical marijuana program has “failed,” and it’s “time to shut this broken system down” amid reports about youth cannabis use.

Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) said on Tuesday that the voter-approved “experiment” with medical marijuana legalization has led him to conclude that the program hasn’t worked, citing a recent report released by the TEXOMA High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), which was tasked by the legislature to assess the impact of the state’s cannabis laws.

“Youth use of marijuana is up. ER visits are up. Cartel crime is up. Massive amounts of oversupply are flooding the black market,” the governor said. “We don’t need more weed shops than pharmacies.”

“It’s time to shut this broken system down and protect our kids and communities,” he said, sharing a link to a News 9 report about HIDTA’s recent findings.

Oklahoma’s marijuana “experiment” has failed.

Youth use of marijuana is up. ER visits are up. Cartel crime is up. Massive amounts of oversupply are flooding the black market.

We don’t need more weed shops than pharmacies.

It’s time to shut this broken system down and protect…

— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) March 3, 2026

“As indicated through the data, marijuana legalization in Oklahoma has had a significant impact on the state, with increased marijuana use among both youth and adults,” HIDTA claimed. “Along with a rise in marijuana related health issues such as emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and calls to the poison control center.”

How the governor envisions shuttering the program is unclear, but Stitt is echoing points he made prior to the release of the latest report. He said during a State of the State address last month that he wants voters who approved medical marijuana legalization at the ballot to revisit the reform.

That’s drawn mixed reactions from lawmakers, including those within the governor’s own party. Senate

President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R), for example, initially expressed openness to the idea—but he ultimately determined it’d be “really hard to completely undo” legalization and unfair to licensed medical cannabis operators who “invested their life savings into this program” and are “trying to do this for the Oklahomans that need that product—not for recreational, but for actual medicinal purposes.”

“It’s hard to unring that bell,” he said. “What I’m going to suggest to the governor is that we don’t run a state question on that, but instead we continue to push the regulations [and] we continue to regulate the industry.”

House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R) has also largely dismissed the prospect of upending the state’s medical cannabis program. He said Oklahomans have already drawn a clear distinction: They support medical marijuana and “resoundingly” oppose adult-use legalization, based on past election results.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) was asked last month about the governor’s call to have voters revisit the state’s medical marijuana program, and he said he’d “love” to see the state’s medical marijuana program wiped out.

However, he cautioned that doing so would mean reimbursing the hundreds of licensees participating in the market because the state would be “taking” a revenue source away from them.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt (D) said she’s “not into revisiting state questions,” and lawmakers should “trust the people, and we should actually implement them as well.”

“This legislature, before our time, could have made a decision to put guardrails in place before this state question passed,” the senator said. “Instead, they stuck their head in the sand and let that question pass and be mayhem.”

Chris Anoatubby, the lieutenant governor of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, aligned himself with Stitt’s position, stating that the medical marijuana program as currently implemented has “been a problem all over Oklahoma.”

He added that he’d “absolutely” support “reforming” the cannabis law.

During his speech last month, the governor complained that the state has “more dispensaries than we do pharmacies,” adding that marijuana retailers “hide an industry that enables cartel activity, human trafficking, and foreign influence in our state.”

While regulators and law enforcement have “done incredible work to hold back the tide of illegal activity,” Stitt said, the industry is “plagued by foreign criminal interests and bad actors, making it nearly impossible to rein in.”

“We can’t put a band-aid on a broken bone,” he said. “Knowing what we know, it’s time to let Oklahomans bring safety and sanity back to their neighborhoods. Send the marijuana issue back to the vote of the people and shut it down.”

While the governor’s rhetoric signals he may be interested in seeing the medical cannabis industry shuttered altogether, it’s not clear what exactly he wants voters to decide on and his office has not released specific language of a proposed ballot measure.

Back in 2022, Stitt similarly used his State of the State address as an opportunity to dig at the voter-approved medical marijuana law, arguing that residents were misled by proponents of the ballot initiative.

Meanwhile, in November, Oklahoma activists withdrew an adult-use marijuana legalization initiative that they’d hoped to place on the state’s 2026 ballot.

After a short but aggressive signature push to secure ballot placement, Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA) ultimately did not turn in its petitions by the deadline, according to the secretary of state’s office.

ORCA said following the governor’s speech that the call for an end to the medical cannabis program is “simply an admission of his administration’s failure.”

“While we were busy advocating for common sense regulation, his appointees were busy importing thousands of illegal [Chinese Communist Party] grows,” the group said.”Fortunately, the Feds picked up prosecution.. because they weren’t getting held accountable by the State.”

“Fortunately, [Stitt] has no power here. It will take a vote of both the House and Senate to propose a vote to cancel SQ 788,” they said.”As we all move forward we must continue to be forward thinking, not backward acting. We look forward to talking and working with lawmakers, now and in the future.”

— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. —

Meanwhile, law enforcement leaders with the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs and Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs have been raising concerns about cannabis.

Also in Oklahoma, lawmakers last March advanced a bill aimed at protecting gun rights of state-registered medical marijuana patients, although federal law still bars cannabis users from owning firearms regardless of their patient status.

Another state bill filed last year by a GOP legislator would criminalize the use of medical cannabis during pregnancy.

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.