A major Oklahoma medical marijuana grower has regained its license after a state judge rejected regulators’ attempt to keep the business suspended.
Cedric Gardens, one of the state’s largest licensed cultivators, was allowed to resume operations Monday after successfully challenging an emergency suspension issued by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority in February. The agency had accused the company of having marijuana that was not properly tagged in the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system and alleged that some product could not be reconciled with Metrc records.
The company disputed those claims in court, arguing that its operations had been repeatedly approved by regulators and that the marijuana in question could be accounted for in the state’s tracking system.
Attorney Dana Kurtz, who represented Cedric Gardens, said the case showed there was no public safety threat and that OMMA had not properly reviewed the company’s records before suspending its license.
Despite a decline in patients and dispensaries in recent months amid increased enforcement and tighter regulations, Oklahoma’s medical cannabis market remains one of the nation’s largest, with the highest number of dispensaries per capita.