Medical marijuana calls for modifications in drug policy

The three commissioners of Alfalfa County – Jay Hague, Stan Tucker, and Marvin Woodall – met Tuesday morning to conduct business as usual, kicking off their meeting with an invocation and flag salute. The heap of paperwork before them called for a good wait's worth of time to sign, but the three men ultimately gave unanimous approval on all maintenance and operation warrants for payment, monthly officer reports, and blanket purchase orders. They accepted a road-crossing permit for the week - a $1,500 single for District 1.

Next, they approved Alfalfa County Excise Board meeting dates for 2020 and made a tiny modification to the 2020 Class A Officer schedule. The 2020 Alfalfa County handbook was given approval too, and commissioners moved on to talk about the county drug policy (also for 2020). Changes in medical marijuana laws (Oklahoma House Bill 2612, or Unity Bill), give employers the ability to evaluate the major duties of employees and limit their protection under the Medical Marijuana Act. This, in turn, calls for officials to take a closer look at what county positions may be deemed "safety-sensitive". Hague, Tucker, and Woodall decided to table the agenda item, citing more time was needed to review the drug policy.

The tabling of that item was followed by the men signing off on paperwork reflecting Alfalfa County's portion of Visual Inspection (for Alfalfa County). Next, county clerk Laneta Unruh told the group that she heard from Dave Nance - the COO of KanOkla. Nance's call was in regard to reports of poor service and outages to which he profusely apologized for, Unruh said. KanOkla doubled the courthouse's bandwidth in hopes of improvement, but service may not be optimal until a designated line is placed.

After Unruh's KanOkla update, Alfalfa County's emergency manager, Shana Hague, handed out papers to be signed for FEMA (4453-DR) for disaster assistance payment. Commissioners signed off on that paperwork, followed by the Dobson Technology Agreement for the OSU Extension office, Election Board, and fairgrounds. The meeting adjourned after no new business was determined.