The medical marijuana "Unity Bill" that sets up a basic legal framework for the implementation of State Question 788 will take effect Thursday. Nearly three dozen other new laws will also take effect this week. Here's a look at some of the new laws. 'Unity Bill' Also known as the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act, House Bill 2612 sets up a framework for regulating Oklahoma's medical marijuana industry. The lengthy bill that was a compromise between legislators and those in the medical marijuana industry sets guidelines for marijuana testing, tax collections, seed-to-sale product tracking, packaging, employment and more. [continues 325 words]
A year after medical marijuana became legal in Oklahoma, state lawmakers and marijuana advocates seem to have found a balance in implementing State Question 788 and moving the industry forward into the near future. Sweeping legislation -- the result of a major compromise between legislators and cannabis advocates -- to regulate the medical marijuana industry will go into effect later this month. Meanwhile, there are whispers of an initiative petition to put the question of legalizing recreational marijuana to a statewide vote, which could shake up Oklahoma's fledgling marijuana industry and the new regulatory framework. [continues 795 words]
Creation of a Cannabis Commission to regulate medical marijuana in the state was approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Thursday night with no votes to spare. House Bill 3468, by Rep. John Jordan, R-Yukon, sets up an independent commission that would be activated if voters approve State Question 788 on June 26. That question would legalize medical uses of medical marijuana, although opponents say its broad construction would essentially make policing recreational use impossible. "If you're for full-on recreational marijuana, this is not your bill," Jordan said in explaining the bill. [end]
AFTER several failed efforts, proponents of legalizing "medical" marijuana in Oklahoma may have collected enough signatures to put the issue before voters. So it's worth looking at the actual content of this measure, even though logistical challenges may postpone a vote until after November's elections. Prior medical marijuana proposals have been laughably broad. The legal language for proposed State Question 788 is better, but problems and loopholes remain that should concern Oklahomans. Proponents like to portray the proposed system as comparable to going to the drugstore for a prescription painkiller. But the language of SQ 788 undermines that image. Under the proposal, someone with a state-issued medical marijuana license could both produce and use marijuana. That's not typical for most controlled substances. [continues 430 words]
Controversy continued to swirl Friday over a ballot title rewrite for a state question aimed at legalizing medical marijuana. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Thursday released his rewritten version of the ballot title for State Question 788. On Friday, the attorney general's office received several calls thanking the office for the quick turnaround time on the revision and questioning "our rewrite," said Lincoln Ferguson, a Pruitt spokesman. The ballot title summarizes a state question for voters. The revision includes: "This measure legalizes the licensed use, sale, and growth of marijuana in Oklahoma. There are no qualifying medical conditions identified." [continues 874 words]
Supporters of legalization of medical marijuana on Wednesday vowed to press getting the issue on the Nov. 8 ballot, despite a series of deadlines that make it nearly impossible. On Tuesday, state officials said Oklahomans for Health had collected more than enough signatures to get the issue before voters. Supporters collected 67,761 signatures; the requirement was 65,987 signatures. But a series of deadlines means the question likely will have to wait until June or November 2018, the next scheduled primary and general elections. [continues 469 words]
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]
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has rejected a proposed constitutional amendment for the 2018 ballot that would legalize marijuana in the state. The proposal by Mary Berry, of Summit, would allow for the cultivation, production, distribution, sale, possession and use of the cannabis plant and all products taken from the plant, including marijuana. Rutledge wrote in an opinion released Monday that the proposal is being rejected because of ambiguities in the text. [end]
Tents flapped in the northwest Oklahoma City wind as Michael Beck and another man arrived in a pickup, ready to sign a petition seeking a state vote to legalize medical marijuana. Beck, 25, said he has never used marijuana, but he has a niece who can benefit from it and whose mother and father have moved to Colorado where it's legal. Flags bearing a marijuana leaf and medical symbol waved in the wind as Beck talked. A group known as Oklahomans for Health is taking petition signatures until Aug. 11 on the northeast corner of N Meridian Avenue and Northwest Expressway. They hope to gather 66,000 legible signatures from registered voters, said Frank Grove, a board member of the group who is volunteering to work at the tents the group calls "Fort Canna." [continues 228 words]
DENVER - Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is trying a new tactic in his fight to have Colorado's legalization of recreational use of marijuana overturned. Pruitt and his Nebraska counterpart are asking an appeals court to allow them to join a court case that may decide whether federal law against marijuana pre-empts Colorado's legalization. The two attorneys general on Thursday jointly asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow them to intervene in the case. Opponents of legalized marijuana are pursuing that case at the Denver-based appeals court. [continues 346 words]
TOPEKA, Kan. - Five of a Navy veteran's children were taken into state custody because of suspected drug use and neglect, not because of his admitted use of medical marijuana, a Kansas appellate court has concluded. Rulings by a three-judge Kansas Court of Appeals panel determined "the children did not feel safe returning home" to Raymond and Amelia Schwab, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Raymond Schwab, whose case has become a rallying point for marijuana advocates, said he has used medical marijuana to treat PTSD, even though Kansas has not legalized it. [continues 106 words]
Oklahoma voters would be asked to legalize medical marijuana under an initiative petition filed Monday with the secretary of state's office. It calls for the state Health Department to regulate the dispensing of marijuana to people with a doctor-signed license to obtain it. A 7 percent tax would be applied to retail sales, with the money going first to finance regulatory expenses. Then, 75 percent of excess funds would go to common education and 25 percent to drug and alcohol rehabilitation. [continues 439 words]
OKLAHOMA Attorney General Scott Pruitt's effort to sue the state of Colorado for its role in violating the drug laws of neighboring states fell short at the U.S. Supreme Court this week. That doesn't mean there isn't a problem, as even the attorney general of Colorado conceded. Pruitt's lawsuit was not based on challenging the decision of Colorado citizens to legalize marijuana sales to Colorado residents. Instead, Pruitt sought to challenge Colorado state policies that are designed to generate revenue from the interstate sale of marijuana. For example, Colorado officials don't require that marijuana buyers be legal residents of Colorado, nor does the state limit the number of transactions to deter bulk trafficking. As a result, Colorado has become a hub of interstate marijuana sales and distribution. [continues 248 words]
Legislation has been proposed to overhaul the drug asset forfeiture laws in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, Oklahoma laws regarding drug asset forfeiture have been so severely misrepresented that the truth of how these laws work is lost. Under Oklahoma law, a law enforcement officer can seize property only if he has an arrest warrant, search warrant, probable cause to believe the property is dangerous, or probable cause to believe that the property has been used, or will be used, in violation of Oklahoma narcotics laws. [continues 407 words]
Regarding "Oklahoma, Nebraska AGs liken Colorado to 'drug cartel' over pot" (News, Jan. 7): As a Colorado resident who helped end cannabis prohibition, I strongly disagree with Oklahoma and Nebraska's claim likening Colorado to a "drug cartel." Oklahoma and Nebraska's desire to continue caging responsible adults who choose to use the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant is dependent on Colorado perpetuating the historically discredited "Reefer Madness" scam, dependent on punishing Colorado for not punishing its citizens for using a beneficial plant with a tantrum. In reality, citizens including Oklahoma's and Nebraska's own citizens liken cannabis prohibitionists as being anti-Christian, vulgar and just plain wrong. In the end, cannabis prohibition and discrimination will be history. Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
WASHINGTON - U.S. Supreme Court justices are expected to decide in their closed door meeting on Jan. 22 whether to allow Oklahoma and Nebraska to sue Colorado over its marijuana laws. The two states claim their neighbor's licensing of growers and sellers has led their own residents to travel to Colorado to buy marijuana. That in turn has strained their own law enforcement and other resources, they claim. In a brief filed last week, Oklahoma and Nebraska compared Colorado to a drug cartel that is now exporting pot to 36 states. [continues 396 words]
Rhetoric is heating up about a proposal to change the state's civil asset forfeiture process. Lawmakers return in February to the Capitol, where the issue is expected to be debated. The leading voice for change is Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City. He has filed Senate Bill 838, which would make dramatic changes to a law that allows law enforcement to seize property and cash suspected of being used in a crime. The current process does not require a conviction. [continues 448 words]
WASHINGTON - Oklahoma and Nebraska compared Colorado to a drug cartel Wednesday and again urged the Supreme Court to let them sue their neighbor over its marijuana production and distribution system. In sharply written arguments, the two states said Colorado "has created a massive criminal enterprise whose sole purpose is to authorize and facilitate the manufacture, distribution, sale and use of marijuana." "The State of Colorado authorizes, oversees, protects and profits from a sprawling $100 million per-month marijuana growing, processing and retailing organization that exported thousands of pounds of marijuana to some 36 States in 2014," the states' new brief says. [continues 471 words]
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. [continues 468 words]
Marijuana Is the No. 1 Drug Found in Drivers Who Tested Positive for Drugs in Oklahoma, According to the Osbi As more states legalize marijuana for recreational use, concern rises about the risk of people getting behind the wheel while high. While many supporters point to the potential positive impact on economics that legalization in Oklahoma could hold, law enforcement officers who are faced with the deadly outcomes of driving while under the influence of marijuana or other drugs during their work point to the risks. [continues 1081 words]
