The House will next consider legislation clarifying cities’ and counties’ authority to regulate the smoking and vaping of medical marijuana in public places.

Senator Lonnie Paxton, a Republican out of Tuttle, is the author of Senate Bill 1296, which he says is needed to clear up confusion as to where citizens can use their medical. He said the bills that were passed last year had some gray areas and it wasn’t clear as to whether someone could consume their medical marijuana in smokable or vaping form in a public place.

This legislation clarifies that cities and counties do have the authority to regulate someone’s consumption of these products through smoking or vaping. Sen. Paxton said it would not stop someone, like a cancer patient, from taking their medicine in a consumable or edible form. He said they just wouldn’t be able to smoke or vape it in those public places where their city or county prohibits it because when you smoke it, it is said to affect a lot of people around you.

The bill passed out of the Senate Monday afternoon. Senate Bill 1296 updates the Smoking in Public Places and Indoor Workplaces Act to add the smoking or vaping of medical marijuana to the list of public places where the smoking or vaping of tobacco or other lawful products is currently prohibited.

Rep. Marcus McEntire, a Republican from Duncan, is the bill’s principal House author.