Efforts to Legalize Medical Marijuana Move Ahead in State.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Supporters of an effort to legalize medical marijuana hope to begin gathering signatures in early September.

Last week, members of Green the Vote filed paperwork with the Oklahoma Secretary of State's office indicating their intent.

Following a protest period and a review of the ballot title, they hope to hit the streets, Isaac Caviness, president of Green the Vote, said Thursday. He said the organization is not anticipating a challenge to the petition.

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WASHINGTON - Novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," Don Winslow was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Mexico's top drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has twice escaped from a maximum-security prison.

Guzman reportedly escaped through a five-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism.

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WASHINGTON - Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Guzman reportedly escaped through a 5-foottall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. Fourteen years ago, Guzman escaped from another "maximum security" prison simply by hiding in a laundry cart.

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Senator Denies Claims That Plan to Change Law Is Grab for Money

A state senator has upset law enforcement officers across the state by saying the state's drug money forfeiture law needs to be changed to protect the innocent.

"Completely asinine," said the most vocal critic, Canadian County Sheriff Randall Edwards.

At issue is the law as written allows police - in some instances - to seize and keep cash found during traffic stops even when no drugs were discovered and no criminal charges were filed.

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Regarding "Momentum building for justice reform" (Point of View, May 9): J.C. Watts recommends "shortening prison sentences for nonviolent offenders - or diverting people from prison altogether" to reduce prison costs. What he doesn't say: Nonviolent offenders are drug users supporting their addiction selling drugs to other users.

Oklahoma isn't the place to rethink 100 years of failed attempts to control narcotics and "dangerous drugs" by criminal laws prohibiting possession or sale of drugs. It started with the federal Harrison Act (opium, 1912), leading every state to prosecute drug users/sellers since the 1930s. Former Congressman Watts and his task force on federal corrections reform need to determine whether criminal justice systems are suitable for folks addicted to drugs. They may discover drug addictions increased during the "war on drugs." Invest taxpayer money in treatment programs. That's much cheaper than doubling Oklahoma's prison population. Transfer narcotic enforcement officers to street patrols. Let them arrest real criminals.

Richard Janopaul

Oklahoma City

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I agree almost completely with David Read (Your Views, May 8): Drugs are not the "harmless recreation" that is the viewpoint of liberals and, unfortunately, a lot of conservatives. Drugs destroy lives. Do I need to point further than Skyla Whitaker and her friend? Walking on a familiar country road and shot by a recreational drug user? What will it take to wake this country up? More people need to realize that the purpose of the law is to protect society, not to let criminals off time and time again in order to satisfy some sociological sense of guilt. The law has many safeguards to protect people who are wrongly accused, but if someone is guilty, they need to be locked up, period. If the prisons are overcrowded, more prisons need to be built. These kind of people aren't harmless. Users and dealers are a malignant cancer and need to be treated as such.

Arrell D. Martindale

Oklahoma City

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Regarding "Law an example of why more reform is needed" (Our Views, May 3): When it comes to preventing drug use, mass incarceration is a cure worse than the disease. The drug war is not the promoter of family values some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole does too.

Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in criminal behavior. Prisons transmit violent habits rather than reduce them. Nonviolent drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal job prospects because of criminal records.

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We applaud Gov. Mary Fallin's decision to sign legislation allowing a medical pilot program that uses a nonintoxicating derivative of marijuana - medicinal cannabis oil or CBD - to help children with seizure disorders.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, was carefully written to allow for tightly controlled investigational medical studies that can be conducted in a safe, responsible and scientific manner.

"It is not marijuana, and it is not anything that can make you high," Fallin said. "This law has been narrowly crafted to support highly supervised medical trials for children with debilitating seizures."

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OKLAHOMA'S three-strikes law for drug felony convictions, on the books since 1989, underscores the importance of policymakers occasionally reviewing state statutes to determine whether there's a better way to handle crime and punishment. The answer, generally, is yes.

As Jennifer Palmer reported in today's Oklahoman, 54 state prison inmates are serving sentences of life without parole for drug violations. They were sentenced under the three-strikes law, which mandates a life sentence when two convictions for any drug felony are followed by a drug-trafficking conviction.

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With State Prisons Over Capacity, Some Are Calling for Reversal of Harsh Law

Kevin Ott drew his first strike when he was arrested for a small bag of methamphetamine in his pocket in 1993.

A year later, authorities caught the self-described country boy from Okemah with marijuana plants growing at his home. That strike got him 15 months in prison.

Still in his early 30's, Ott took strike three in 1996 when police found 3 1/2 ounces of meth in his home, enough for prosecutors to charge him with trafficking. His punishment: life without parole.

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While the picture is still blurry, legal marijuana could be coming to Indian country in Oklahoma. Such a possibility may seem far-fetched, but recent policy pronouncements by the U.S. Department of Justice are making the once unthinkable a real possibility.

While marijuana is still illegal in all of its forms in Oklahoma, more than 20 states have legalized it for either medical or recreational use. Nonetheless, it is still illegal in all states under federal law to manufacture, distribute or dispense marijuana.

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Regarding "Colorado defends pot laws against Oklahoma, Nebraska legal attack" (News, March 28): Aaron Cooper, a spokesman for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has it backward in claiming that Colorado's legalization of cannabis has negatively impacted surrounding states like Oklahoma and Nebraska. Rather, cannabis prohibition is responsible for negatively impacting Oklahoma, Nebraska and the entire country.

Further, they're unable to grasp what is taking place. Colorado government isn't promoting commercialized cannabis, but rather regulating the God-given plant. Oklahoma and Nebraska leaders fail to realize what they're actually doing is forcing the black market to regulate cannabis instead. While Oklahoma and Nebraska leaders may wish to force the black market to continue regulating cannabis, Colorado voters decided to force government to do the inevitable job instead. Recent polls indicate continued growing support for that decision. Polls also indicate Oklahoma and Nebraska citizens wish to end cannabis prohibition.

Stan White, Dillon, Colo.

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THE debate over potential medical use of marijuana has generated legislative proposals this year that embody the best, and worst, of the political system.

House Bill 2154, by Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, would allow Oklahoma children to participate in clinical trials for cannabidiol. That drug, otherwise referred to as CBD, is extracted from marijuana stalks and does not contain the chemical that creates marijuana's narcotic affect.

There is reason to believe the drug could treat people who suffer seizures due to epilepsy. Echols said his own niece is among the children who suffer seizures that could be reduced through CBD use.

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House OKs Limited Use

We applaud the state House for voting 99-2 last week to legalize use of an active marijuana ingredient for the treatment of severe epileptic seizures in children.

Earlier this year, Gov. Mary Fallin urged the state to legalize nonintoxicating medicinal cannabis oil - CBD - on a supervised basis for children suffering from severe seizure disorders.

While CBD is derived from cannabis, Fallin has opposed any broader legalization of marijuana. We think that's a pretty good read of where the people of Oklahoma stand on the issue too.

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Cannabidiol, Extracted From Marijuana, Is Used to Treat Severe Epileptic Seizures.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The House of Representatives voted 99-2 Wednesday to legalize an active marijuana ingredient used in the treatment of severe epileptic seizures.

The two "no" votes were by Republicans Scott Biggs of Chickasha and Mike Sanders of Kingfisher.

House Bill 2154, by Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, would allow children to participate in clinical trials for cannabidiol, a substance extracted from marijuana stalks. Cannabidiol, or CBD, does not contain the chemical that creates marijuana's narcotic affect.

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Some Oklahoma Legislators Are Against the AG's Decision to Join a Lawsuit Against Colorado.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Some Oklahoma lawmakers disagree with Attorney General Scott Pruitt's decision to file suit over Colorado's legalization of marijuana.

Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, said the lawsuit filed last month by Pruitt and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning undermines states' rights.

In their lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, Pruitt and Bruning are asking that the Colorado law be deemed unconstitutional and tossed out, and they are asking the nation's highest court to force the federal government to enforce federal law prohibiting the sale of marijuana. They also seek to recover their legal costs for filing the suit.

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Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a vocal proponent of states' rights, drew criticism Monday from fellow Republicans who oppose his attempt to have the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Colorado's marijuana legalization law.

State Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, and six other GOP lawmakers sent a letter to Pruitt criticizing his decision to join Nebraska in asking the high court to invalidate Colorado voters' 2012 determination to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

They want him to remove Oklahoma from that legal fight, saying he should not meddle in the affairs of another state.

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Although under federal law marijuana is a drug with no medical use and doctors can't prescribe it, 23 states and Washington, D.C., allow marijuana use for some medical conditions. In addition, Washington State and Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. Interstate travel by dealers and "drug tourists" increased the availability of marijuana in other states. Forty states reported seizure of Colorado medical and/or recreational marijuana. This caused serious problems in neighboring Oklahoma and Nebraska, which are suing Colorado in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking relief for this situation. The U.S. Justice Department ignores this problem.

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Last week, Oklahoma and Nebraska sued Colorado over actions Colorado has taken that have resulted in the trafficking of illegal drugs into Oklahoma and Nebraska.

We didn't take this action lightly. As you know, I have been an ardent defender of Oklahoma's ability to determine its own policies and laws, free from undue federal intrusion. But that isn't to say that there is no place for federal law. Of course there is - that is precisely why our Founders came together in 1789 to draft a constitution. My battles have been against federal actions that exceed the powers our Founders granted to the federal government in the constitution.

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Oklahoma has filed a lawsuit against Colorado's marijuana law.

The concern seems to be that marijuana from Colorado is coming to Oklahoma. That concerns me too.

What can we do to reduce Colorado's market share? In fact, what can we do to reduce the market share for all imported and black market marijuana in Oklahoma? How can we keep the profits here and generate tax money to help Oklahoma?

This used to be the problem with the tattoo business. Oklahomans were spending gasoline money and travel time going to other states for tattoos.

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