An initiative petition to let Oklahomans vote on whether to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes has enough signatures to potentially get on the ballot, Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge announced Tuesday. Backers of the petition say they hope to get the issue on the November ballot, but state officials say time constraints may make that impossible. If the issue fails to make the November ballot, voters still might get a chance to vote on it later during a special election or the 2018 primary or general election, officials said. [continues 417 words]
State Sen. Constance Johnson has filed a bill to legalize marijuana in Oklahoma and place its regulation under the control of the state Health Department. "I think with our current system of laws and punishments for simple possession, we are burying ourselves into a pit where the costs are unsustainable," said Johnson, who has made several unsuccessful past attempts to liberalize Oklahoma's marijuana laws. Johnson said she believes unnecessarily harsh laws have ruined young people's lives, and that decriminalizing marijuana would reduce gang activity and violence. [continues 666 words]
Public schools can force students to take drug tests to participate in extracurricular activities, an Oklahoma City federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge David L. Russell issued the precedent-setting ruling in a case in which two high school students sued the Tecumseh school board, alleging the district's drug testing policy violated their constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled that a school district could require drug testing of students engaged in athletic competition. [continues 402 words]
American Civil Liberties Union attorneys plan to appeal an Oklahoma City federal judge's ruling that public schools can force students to take drug tests to participate in extracurricular activities, an ACLU lawyer said Friday. Graham Boyd of the ACLU's Drug Policy Litigation Project responded Friday to U.S. District Judge David L. Russell's ruling. That ruling came Thursday in a case in which two high school students sued the Tecumseh School Board, alleging the district's drug testing policy violated their constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. [continues 97 words]
