In recent Oklahoma news, there has been another lawsuit filed against OMMA (Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority) and Metrc, the state’s track and trace program that requires licensees to use it.
The lawsuit was filed in Ottawa on Thursday, May 4th, 2023, by Full Tilt, LLC. They are seeking injunctive relief because they claim that Metrc’s contract with OMMA does not include licensees paying for RFID tracking tags or the monthly service fee of $40 per month.
The lawsuit argues that if these fees and tags are considered deliverables, they should have been included in the contract and Request for Proposal. If they are not considered deliverables, then licensees should not be required to pay for them. Metrc’s bid to OMMA states that the annual fee from Oklahoma to Metrc for the contract is $42,500, which is supposed to cover all operating costs.
Full Tilt, LLC is suing because they were subjected to an inspection that resulted in an Emergency Order of Suspension due to their plants not being properly tagged. They also claim that they never received a copy of their inspection report before receiving the suspension notice. This occurred amidst rumors of OMMA imposing excessive fines to shut down licenses.
The lawsuit is being handled by Ron Durbin, an attorney in Oklahoma who has previously sued Metrc and OMMA on behalf of medical marijuana licensees. Interestingly, Durbin did not show up for the last injunctive hearing where Metrc countersued to change the venue. As a result, Metrc’s track and trace program was immediately implemented, and licenses were charged for the past year’s worth of service fees, even though it was not required by law during that time. Non-payment would result in the loss of access to Metrc’s required software.
In addition to the $40 monthly service fee, businesses are also expected to pay $0.25 per package tag and $0.45 per plant tag for growers in Oklahoma. This is not the case in other states like California and Missouri, where the compliance fee is covered by the state, and tags are supplied to licensees at no cost. Given the high cost of licensing, it is reasonable to expect compliance to be included in that cost.
The lawsuit mentions a case law precedent in Missouri, where licensees sued and were granted relief from paying for tags and service fees. If injunctive relief is granted in this Oklahoma lawsuit, it may only apply to Full Tilt, LLC until the final outcome is determined.
To view the actual lawsuit documents, click here.
You can also find the documents here.
