In vetoing Senate Bill 437, Stitt said that he would support various parts of the bill if sent to him individually.
"Unfortunately, the bill would also roll back progress we have made as a state to address illegal marijuana grow operations and bad actors within the industry," Stitt wrote. "As illegal grow operations and bad actors continue to be the primary issue facing the industry, it is unwise to repeal changes designed to curb their participation in the market in exchange for improvements to other areas of the state's program."
Stitt did not elaborate on which parts of the bill he didn't like.
State Rep. Mickey Dollens said he was happy to see the governor's veto. Dollens spoke out against the bill when it reached the House floor last month.
After the governor's veto, he said that pre-packaging cannabis didn't make sense. Dollens said he suspects that some business owners had purchased packaging equipment years ago in anticipation of such a law being introduced among the first set of regulations.
"When that was not a requirement, then they were out of their investment. And with the passage of this, they would stand to benefit financially," said Dollens, D-Oklahoma City. "It doesn't safeguard anything. It doesn't change the process. The only thing it benefits are the people who've invested in the pre-packaging equipment."
He also criticized the section of the bill that would require some individuals to have a qualifying medical condition before getting a card. Along with requiring it for minors under 18, the bill said those over 18 who are "currently enrolled in a public school" would have to prove they have a medical condition that qualifies them to receive a patient card.
The problem, Dollens said, was that the bill didn't explicitly define what a public school is. The bill's authors said it was their intent for the restriction to apply only to the K-12 public school system, but Dollens said that as written it could apply to any publicly funded school in Oklahoma.
"You could be 35 years old, enrolled in a publicly funded university or community college, and you could be breaking the law," he said.
repost from the Oklahoman
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