OUJI-CR 6-10

DRUG OFFENSES - MARIJUANA DEFINED

The controlled dangerous substance of marijuana includes all parts of the plant Cannabis Sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin, but shall not include [set out the applicable exceptions in 63 O.S. Supp. 2025 § 2-101(31)(a-h)].

The substance "Cannabis Sativa L." includes all forms, varieties, and species of the plant genus "cannabis".

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Statutory Authority: 63 O.S. Supp. 2025, § 2-101(31).

Committee Comments

This instruction conforms to the suggestions articulated by the Court of Criminal Appeals in several cases. Goodner v. State, 1976 OK CR 29, 546 P.2d 653; Winters v. State, 1976 OK CR 4, 545 P.2d 786, 791. (“[T]he term ‘cannabis sativa L.’ used in defining marihuana in Section 2-101(19) of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act includes all forms, varieties, and species, heretofore or hereinafter classified, of the plant genus cannabis.”) In both cases, the defendants argued that the State had failed to sustain its burden of proof in charging offenses concerning marijuana, because the expert witnesses at trial established only that tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) was identified in the substance within the defendant's possession, and that the substance was cannabis, without specifically identifying the substance in the statutory terms of "cannabis sativa." The court rejected this argument, and declared that, so long as the State establishes that the substance in question is a proscribed portion of the plant cannabis, and further establishes that the substance tests positive for the presence of THC, the State's evidence is sufficient to sustain its burden of proof.

(2026 Supp.)