One month to Metrc: Training and Credentialing deadlines are here
As of today, March 26th, Oklahoma’s 10,500+ cannabis business licensees are required to have Metrc training and subsequent credentialing of businesses completed
Today’s training and credentialing deadline moves Oklahoma cannabis business owners closer to completion with Metrc compliance. The state announced they had awarded their seed-to-sale traceability contract to Metrc in September of last year and released the timeline to compliance toward the end of February. As of today, all licensees, whether they are operational or not, will have to completed Metrc training and subsequent credentialing in order to gain access to the system and begin inventorying.
There are about 5 weeks to complete the inventorying process as of this writing, with the OMMA requiring that beginning inventory be completely reported by April 30th—just over 2 months after initially announcing the timeline.
According to the Metrc Next Steps overview provided by the OMMA, “the last monthly report business owners will send to the OMMA will be the April report, filed in May. After that time, full operation and tracking within Metrc will satisfy a licensee’s monthly reporting requirements.”
The last monthly report business owners will send to the OMMA will be the April report, filed in May. After that time, full operation and tracking within Metrc will satisfy a licensee’s monthly reporting requirements.
There is plenty to be said about Metrc from a critical perspective. From tag fees, to the difficulty of booking a training slot and beyond. Unfortunately, none of it changes what is left to do for businesses to remain compliant by the end of next month.
Metrc may eventually see a fight mounted in Oklahoma, motivated by Missouri’s appellate win over whether the company was contractually allowed to charge additional fees for state-mandated plant tags. A fight may be warranted, but there is no guarantee a similar ruling would be reached here in Oklahoma or a timeline for when that would happen. There is however a timeline for when cannabis business owners will need to fully integrate with Metrc—and its deadline is looming.
Remaining resilient in this industry means both keeping up with regulatory changes, and working together to push back or influence them. Regardless how you may feel about Metrc or what corrective lawsuit you hear is coming, it is essential to keep moving along with the timeline provided by the OMMA. If you do not, you will risk thousands in fines or worse, having your license revoked due to non-compliance.
We’re with the people’s movement against certain aspects of Metrc, but more important and immediate to us is keeping our clients compliant. The attorneys at Gies Law Firm specialize in cannabis law and offer end-to-end services and consulting insights for the industry. It’s our job to ensure cannabis business professionals are successful during the application processes, in the face of litigation, through all regulatory challenges and any other bump in between. Contact us today if we can help you on your way.
Resources for additional Metrc Compliance assistance:
Metrc support:
support@metrc.com or 877‐566‐6506
OMMA Compliance Division:
OMMACompliance@ok.gov
