UPDATE: The Oklahoma Board of Health has now removed this regulation, which "experts criticized as vague and legally troublesome."
Oklahoma may soon become the only state to require a pregnancy test in order for residents to obtain permission to use medical marijuana.
As StateImpact reports, under a new law, doctors in Oklahoma will not be allowed to recommend medical marijuana to women of “childbearing years” without first conducting a pregnancy test.
Because medical marijuana licenses last two years, women will likely have to take multiple pregnancy tests over the course of the treatment. And it’s likely that the women will have to pay for the pregnancy tests themselves.
Buffy Heater, director of government and regulatory affairs at the Oklahoma State Department of Health, said there is no state regulation against using medical marijuana while pregnant. The pregnancy tests “simply meant to make sure that the physician and the patient are informed of potential pregnancy and have a conversation about potential effects,” Heater said.