4 New Marijuana Dispensaries To Open In Stillwater

Thursday, February 7th 2019, 9:30 pm

By: Clayton Cummins

Stillwater City Council members gave the green light for four medical marijuana dispensaries to open shop. A decision was made Monday night during its regularly scheduled city council meeting.

The four new dispensaries will be located at 1925 N. Boomer Road, 809 S. Main Street, 507 N. Main Street, and 617 E. Redbud Drive.

Council members made the decision in about 15 minutes. Its city manager says there was no reason not to.

“The state question that allowed medical marijuana in Oklahoma, only allowed cities to regulate marijuana dispensaries if they were within 1,000 ft. from a school,” said Norman McNickle, Stillwater City Manager. “None of the locations that have applied for the special use permit have been within 1,000 ft. from a school.”

One dispensary will merge with an existing business, while the other three will take over vacant commercial property in the city.

Stillwater already has six existing dispensaries. The city still has five more dispensary applications to consider.

“They (dispensaries) have every right to open that business just as any entrepreneur can open what would be considered a more traditional business,” said McNickle. “The market will take care of whether there are enough or too many.”

As the number of dispensaries grow, so does the number of patients applying for licenses. The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) says in late January, they’ve received over 4,000 new patient applications in just one week.

To ensure the 14-day processing window is met, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority has temporarily closed its call center.

“We have experienced some challenges within staffing, including turnover,” said OMMA Communications Manager, Melissa Miller. “We are currently addressing those needs by making those temporary changes.”

OMMA will continue to accept and process new patient applications. A step-by-step video of how to apply has been posted on OMMA’s YouTube page.