Pubdate: Tue, 05 Jan 2016
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2016 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.newsok.com/voices/guidelines
Website: http://newsok.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318

Two Initiative Petition Drives Have Failed

MEDICAL MARIJUANA PLANS CLEARLY NOT POPULAR HERE

FOR the second time in as many years, proponents have fallen short - 
far short - of gathering enough signatures to place a medical 
marijuana measure before Oklahoma voters. Backers say they will try 
again. But their repeated failure suggests this is an issue lacking 
meaningful support in Oklahoma, and that petition organizers are 
wasting their time.

Last week, Green the Vote submitted petitions containing roughly 
70,000 signatures seeking a public vote to legalize medical marijuana 
in Oklahoma. The group needed 123,725 signatures to get the issue on 
the ballot.

Had the group come close to getting the required signatures, it might 
be understandable if members tried again. But they were around 50,000 
short. And this isn't the first time a marijuana petition has fallen 
far below the threshold required for a public vote. In 2014, an 
initiative launched by Oklahomans for Health collected only about 
half the signatures needed. That group submitted 75,384 signatures 
but needed more than 155,216.

The 2015 petition effort actually had a lower bar to clear. Petition 
efforts involving state constitutional amendments, such as the 
medical marijuana proposal, must receive signatures equal to at least 
15 percent of the votes cast in the most recent election for governor.

Because fewer people voted in the 2014 gubernatorial race than in the 
2010 race, medical marijuana proponents didn't have to collect nearly 
as many signatures in 2015 as in 2014. Yet they still fell well short.

There's an obvious explanation for that failure: Oklahomans don't 
support legalizing marijuana, even for supposed "medical" reasons. 
And, as we've noted before, medical marijuana initiatives have sought 
to stretch the definition of "medical" to such extremes that the term 
has little meaning.

The 2014 effort would have legalized the use of marijuana to treat 37 
"qualifying conditions," including headaches, anxiety, insomnia, 
premenstrual syndrome and painful periods. That same initiative would 
have allowed citizens to smoke marijuana to treat asthma. (Think 
about that for a minute.)

Despite claims to the contrary, the language of proposed medical 
marijuana measures has suggested the intent is to legalize 
recreational use under the guise of medical treatment, not to 
alleviate genuine suffering.

That still seems to be the case. Isaac Caviness, president of Green 
the Vote, said his group believes citizens should be allowed to grow 
greater numbers of marijuana plants for personal use than what the 
Oklahomans for Health petition would have legalized. Caviness says 
more plants are needed to extract the oils and concentrates required 
for certain medicinal benefits.

Oklahomans are clearly skeptical of such claims and the motives of 
marijuana-legalization proponents. At the same time, legitimate 
medical research regarding potential use of marijuana extracts is 
already legal in Oklahoma.

Last year, the Legislature approved House Bill 2154, which allows 
Oklahomans to participate in clinical trials for cannabidiol. That 
drug is extracted from marijuana stalks and doesn't contain the 
chemical that creates marijuana's narcotic affect. It's believed the 
drug could help treat people who suffer seizures due to epilepsy. 
That measure passed with only two votes in opposition out the 149 
members of the Legislature.

Clearly, even tough-on-crime Oklahomans will support serious, 
credible medical research involving limited uses of marijuana. But 
they have no interest in pretending stoners in the park are 
pharmaceutical trailblazers.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom