A significant software glitch in Oklahoma’s medical marijuana licensing system caused widespread alarm among industry stakeholders earlier this month. In the early morning hours of May 14, thousands of medical marijuana businesses across the state received emails from the Oklahoma MedicalMarijuanaAuthority (OMMA) stating that their licenses had expired and required reapplication.
Themessages,sentaround 3 a.m., caught recipients off guard and triggered immediate panic. Kyle King, an Oklahoma license holder, described the situation as an “instant state of panic,” with many operators uncertain whether they needed to suspend operations or destroy inventory to remain compliant.
The cause was later identified as a technical error within Thentia, the thirdparty licensing platform used by OMMA. Thentia, a Canadian-basedsoftware-asa- service provider, specializes in regulatory technology solutions and serves over 100 government agencies worldwide through its flagship platform,ThentiaCloud.
OMMA confirmed that the glitch had inadvertently canceled thousands of active commercial licenses overnight. However, the agency reassured affected businesses that they could continueoperationswhilethe issue was being addressed.
By May 17, OMMA announced that the error had been resolved, and all impacted licenses were reinstated. The agency is now working closely with Thentia to identify the root cause of the malfunction and implement safeguards to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
As part of a broader response, OMMA plans to launch a new licensing software platform in the upcoming fiscal year to improve reliability and minimize the risk of future disruptions. Businesses have also been encouraged to report any continuing concernsviaOMMA’s contactformatomma.ok.gov/ contact.
This incident is not the first time OMMA has experienced issueswithitslicensing system. In September 2022, a multi-day outage linked to a global disruption in Google Cloud services, which Thentia relies on, halted license applications and renewals. OMMArespondedbyextending deadlines for affected licensees.
Other Oklahoma agencies using Thentia’s platform have faced challenges, as well. The Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, reported problems with tracking continuing education credits, such as missing course names and incorrect training hour calculations.
Similarly, the Oklahoma Osteopathic Board encountered confusion in early 2021 when Thentia’s system prematurely sent renewal reminders to physicians. Despite these issues, Thentia has made efforts to improve its services.
The company has worked directly with agencies to implement fixes and recently opened a regional office in Oklahoma City to better support clients in the central U.S. Thentia’s release notes indicate it has resolvedvariousbugs,including problems with payment processing when usernames contained accented characters, password reset difficulties for multi-user business accounts, and glitches with continuing education entry forms.
While Oklahoma has experienced some of the most high-profile disruptions, Thentia’s ongoing software updates suggest that similar issues in other jurisdictions have been addressed more quietly. The company continues to evolve its platform, integrating user feedback and resolving technical challenges to better meettheneedsofgovernment regulatory agencies. The recent medical marijuana licensing disruption underscores the growing reliance on digital infrastructure in regulatory environments, and the importance of strong contingency planning and responsive technical support.