OKLAHOMA: You know the winds of progress are blowing in your favor when you find yourself making plans to head to Oklahoma City for a cannabis festival.
The Road to Oklahoma Hempfest begins this weekend, as the first of three events heralding in a new era for the Sooner state. A licensed and approved spinoff of Seattle Hempfest, The event will provide a forum and rallying point for participants in the nascent medical cannabis and industrial hemp communities; a gathering place for sharing information, conducting education and coordinating efforts for the November elections, where adult-use cannabis is on the ballot.
Tickets are FREE to the historic event, which begins at 9am at the Sheraton Reed Convention center in Midwest city. Featured speakers at the Hemposium include many seminal figures — including Connie Johnson, Oklahoma State Senator and Cannabis Advocate, Seattle Hempfest’s Sharon Whitson and Vivian McPeak, Patrick Saint, Twenty22Many Foundation, and Grandma Cat Jeter. The Marijuana Business Association is proud media sponsor for Oklahoma Hempfest, and MJBA founder/executive director David Rheins is a featured speaker.
The Hemposium programming starts at 9AM and will go until 4PM.
Speakers List for “The Road to Hempfest”
Connie Johnson – Oklahoma State Senator and Cannabis Advocate
Terri Leek – CEO/Founder Pure Hemp Collective
Victoria Huggins – Studio 89 Massage – Advance Massage
Patrick Saint – Founder of Twenty22Many Foundation
Cat Jeter – Cannabis Activist centered on children
Vivian McPeak – Director of Seattle Hempfest
Sharon Whitson – Operating manager of Hempfest Central
Chad Bibler – Hemp advocate and social media activist called the Hemp Father
Timothy Edwards – Founder of Cannabis Saves Lives
David Rheins – Founder of Marijuana Business Association
Brandi Bibler – Hemp Advocate
Lenny Vanhorn – Comedian and Cannabis Activist
Rusty Shackelford – Cannabis Activist after injury
Mark Hubbard – Industrial Hemp Expert
Norma Sapp – Oklahoma NORML
Oklahoma native Scott McKinley — CEO of HiTunes and a longtime promoter at Seattle Hempfest, Cavi Gold and many other canna events — and his local partners have tapped into a lifetime of connections and personal contacts to make this historic series of events a reality. In support from Seattle Hempfest, the team worked tirelessly to muster talent, sponsors, vendors and political support — in the midst of the legal wrangling around medical marijuana — needed to make this first Hempfest possible. It wasn’t easy, and due to the magnitude and overwhelming response from the public, the organizers decided to move the initial main event date back to June 7th – 9th, 2019.
Why is this Hempfest such a big deal? Oklahoma represents the bedrock of the conservative Midwest, and is culturally as far from the liberal West Coast as you can get. When legal cannabis comes to Oklahoma, it has arrived in the front yard of middle America. We are witnessing the mainstreaming of marijuana in real time.
Legally, Oklahoma has never been a canna-friendly place, and even with the new medical cannabis laws passed this summer, and adult-use legalization on the November ballot, the Sooner State maintains some of the harshest penalties for possession, cultivation and sale on the books — especially when it comes to concentrates and hash. The War on Drugs remains very real here, and prohibition continues to ruin lives.
Oklahoma Cannabis Laws, according to NORML:
- Possession of any amount of marijuana is a misdemeanor with a term of imprisonment of up to one year and a fine of up to $1,000
- The sale of less than 25 pounds is a felony, punishable by incarceration for a period of 2 years-life, as well as a fine of $20,000.
- Cultivating up to 1,000 plants is a felony, punishable by a maximum $25,000 fine and between 20 years and life imprisonment.
- Cultivation of marijuana by the owner of land is a felony punishable by a term of imprisonment between 2 years and life and a fine up to 50,000.
- Converting or attempting to convert marijuana into hashish or concentrates is a felony punishable by a fine no greater than $50,000 and a term of imprisonment no less than 2 and up to remainder of the offender’s life
- Distributing, dispensing, transporting with intent to distribute, possessing with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, hashish or concentrates is a felony punishable by a fine no greater than $20,000 and a term of imprisonment no less than 2 years and up to the remainder of the offender’s life.
Oklahoma’s Medical Marijuana Law:
- Those possessing a state-issued license may possess the following: up to eight ounces of marijuana in their residence; up to one ounce of concentrated marijuana; up to 72 ounces of edible marijuana; up to six mature marijuana plants; up to six seedling plants; and up to three ounces of marijuana on their person. Those who do not possess a license face a fine-only misdemeanor for the possession of up to 1.5 ounces of herbal cannabis.
Demand for legal medical cannabis from the public has been strong, as more than 1,600 people and businesses applied for Oklahoma medical marijuana licenses on the first day that applications were made available, according to ABC News
Tickets to The Road To Oklahoma Hempfest are FREE, and available online.