Steve Metzer
Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Midway through a petition drive to bring legalized recreational marijuana use up for a statewide vote, the principal organizer of the effort said it has drawn support from patrons of more than 500 medical marijuana dispensaries across 63 counties.
Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action Director Jed Green said advocates think they are well-positioned to succeed but that a lot of work remains to ensure that State Question 837 will be included on a ballot in a general election.
Supporters have until Nov. 4 to get nearly 173,000 signatures of registered state voters, the number required to advance the proposed constitutional amendment to a vote. They have made it their goal to collect at least 300,000.
There are currently about 325,000 medical marijuana cardholders in the state.
In 2023, voters roundly rejected State Question 820 to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but Green said key differences between that proposal and SQ 837 should make the current proposal more appealing.
He said SQ 820 was driven by out-of-state interests and would have done harm to Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry. By contrast, he said, SQ 837 is a homegrown initiative that would strengthen the established industry by simply allowing licensed dispensaries to add recreational sales.
It would benefit medical marijuana users, he said, as it would do away with a state excise tax currently charged on medical marijuana sales, though customers would still have to pay local and state sales taxes. Recreational marijuana users would pay a 10% state excise tax along with sales taxes, so Green said the state and its counties and municipalities likely would fare better than they do now.
Opponents of SQ 837, including the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police, have raised concerns about the effects of the “normalization” of drug use on youth. They have also cited an erosion of the rights of employers to maintain drug-free workplaces and potentials for more unlicensed and illegal cultivation of marijuana in the state. Additionally, they have raised red flags about increased risks to public safety and more impaired drivers if recreational marijuana use is legalized.
“Additionally, SQ 837 would be a fiscally irresponsible move that ignores the true costs of regulation, enforcement, and addiction services,” the association said in a statement.
Green responded that SQ 837 was put forward as a way to “clean up the mess” left as a result of the state’s poor rollout and regulation of the medical marijuana industry. Among other things, he said, it would empower authorities to eliminate sales of THC-analog products in places such as convenience stores that are not licensed by the state.
As many as 300 signatures a day have been collected at some dispensary locations, but other locations have produced far fewer. In the final stretch of the campaign, Green said petitioners will be concentrating more on visiting community events in the state.
“We like what we’re seeing, but we have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said. “We feel like we’re in a good position. Now comes the critical point of follow-through.”
steve.metzer@tulsaworld.com
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Steve Metzer
Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer
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