If you think Oklahoma has a lot of marijuana dispensaries, you’re right.
Verilife, a dispensary with locations in six states, looked at brick-and-mortar dispensaries across the U.S. and found Oklahoma has more than 600 by their count.
"They are home to the second[-highest] amount of dispensaries total in the country only behind Oregon. So, that was a little bit surprising for us to see such a boom in a short time for Oklahoma," said Matt Zajechowski, who handles public relations for Verilife.
Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana in 2018, while Oregon began allowing recreational use in 2015. Oklahoma also has the second-highest number of dispensaries per capita, with 15.6 per 100,000 residents, also just behind Oregon.
Several Oklahoma cities rank in Verilife's top 30 for dispensaries per 50,000 residents, with Moore in seventh with 13, Edmond ninth with 12.5, and Oklahoma City and Norman 14th and 15th with 10.6 and 10.5.
"Tulsa ranked No. 17 on the list of most dispensaries per capita, at 10.1 dispensaries per 50,000 residents," Zajechowski said.
Lawton, Enid, Broken Arrow and Midwest City also made the top 30. Oklahoma has more cities in Verilife’s top 30 than any other state.
Oklahoma is dead last in tax collections, though. Verilife’s tax data is from 2018, and Oklahomans legalized medical marijuana just that summer.
"It was about, I think, five months. So, yeah, seeing the full-year data, I expect to see a big jump, and it’s something if we compared year over year I would think it would be one of the highest year-over-year increases," Zajechowski said.
