Oklahoma lawmakers are poised to consider legal hemp production in 2018, a move that would open the state’s limited cannabidiol program to in-state producers.
If the bipartisan proposal aimed at boosting a sagging farm economy succeeds, Oklahoma would join more than 30 other states that allow hemp production.
Oklahoma has allowed citizens to buy CBD oil under certain circumstances since 2015. But the state doesn’t allow the raw product to be produced in Oklahoma.
One company, Can-Tek Labs, manufactures CBD products from massage oil to edible candies in Oklahoma City. But it must import its raw hemp from a neighboring state.
The hemp proposal has backers from both parties for the 2018 legislative session.
“I certainly hope, given the state of the economy, that the chances of this becoming a law are good,” Echols said.