The new year brought a second attempt to legalize cannabis in Oklahoma.
A petition for a legalization initiative on this year’s state ballot for Oklahoma was filed with the local Secretary of State’s office on Tuesday, according to Oklahoma Newspaper.
The latest campaign is led by an Oklahoma woman named Michelle Tilly, who led a failed effort to get a legalization initiative in the 2020 state election.
“This is an effort that started several years ago but has grown,” Tilly told the newspaper in an interview. “We have a broad coalition of Oklahoma residents — small business owners, small farmers, employers and criminal justice reform people as well.”
The paper stated that the proposal “details a framework for adult cannabis use, seeks a 15 percent selective tax on recreational cannabis sales and includes a criminal justice component that would make the new law retroactive, and that would allow some drug offenders” to overturn their convictions and strike out records”.
The upshot is that voters in Oklahoma could see two measures to legalize cannabis on the November ballot.
This is because A separate petition has been filed to legalize fate With the Oklahoma Secretary of State again in October.
The first proposal was made by a group called the Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action, and is similar to the one made by Tilley and company.
Both would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, both would impose a 15 percent tax on cannabis sales, and both contained social justice provisions that would pardon and overturn previous low-level convictions.
“A lot of that is stuff that a lot of people in the community and industry have championed over the past three years, and I don’t see it going through the legislative process anytime soon,” Oklahomas organizer of Responsible Action for Cannabis, He said At the time the petition for his group was submitted.
“Until we get through (legalizing) recreational marijuana, we won’t be able to really stabilize our program. Legalization prevents diversion.” “People have been and will use marijuana. It was decades ago. It is in the interest of our state that we go ahead of the curve on this issue. We must put this matter aside.”
But there are some notable differences between the two campaigns, such as Oklahoma to explain.
Perhaps most importantly, Tilly’s motion, which will appear on the ballot as State Question 820, “proposes legal changes to existing state law,” and if approved, “the governor and state legislators could amend recreational marijuana laws through the legislative process,” according to for Oklahoma.
By contrast, the Oklahomamans proposal for responsible cannabis would amend the state constitution and, therefore, could only be changed by voters.
The Oklahomaman reported that Tilly’s campaign had the backing of “New Approach PAC, which is based in Washington, D.C., and has spent millions supporting marijuana legalization campaigns in other states.”
Green said his campaign was propelled by Oklahoma voters.
“Our effort is a domestic effort, and this petition (SQ 820) is the effort of the cannabis companies,” Tell Oklahoma.
The newspaper outlined the state of play for both campaigns.
According to the report, “the signature requirement to qualify constitutional petitions for state suffrage is nearly double the requirement for legal changes.” “SQ 819 supporters will have to collect 177,957 signatures in 90 days, while SQ 820 supporters will have the same time period to collect 94,910 signatures to qualify for the statewide vote.”
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