In just over a month, Oklahomans will head to the polls to vote on state question 788, which if passed would support a legalize medical marijuana in the state.
Vote No OK SQ788 is a non-profit organization against State Question 788. They support the legalization of medical marijuana in Oklahoma but do not support SQ788. The group’s problems aren’t with the intent of the bill, but rather how the bill could legally be interpreted once it becomes law. They feel there are not nearly enough regulations included in the piece of legislation and disagree with how much marijuana a licensed person could legally own.
Mike Haines with Vote No OK 788 says this state question does not have enough regulatory control over marijuana.
“They don’t allow, for instance, you to regulate who gets a license. They do not allow you to regulate who gives recommendations for licenses. It doesn’t allow you to regulate how recommendations are given or under what basis recommendations are given. It doesn’t allow you to regulate who sells the marijuana, how the marijuana is taxed,” Haines said.
If the bill becomes law, those possessing a license would be able to have up to three ounces on them at any time. In their homes, they’d be allowed to have 8 ounces of marijuana, six mature plants, six seedling plants, one ounce of concentrated marijuana, and 72 ounces of edibles. Haines says that is too much.
“There’s enough marijuana in this bill that you can hold at your house that there is no way a single person can consume that marijuana. Unless you’re using 1975 statistics on what marijuana is. Those times are gone. It used to be that THC content in marijuana was 3 percent by weight in a plant. Today, that number is 13 to 15 percent, by weight, in the plant,” Haines said.
Haines said he also disagrees with the part of the bill that would prevent employers from drug testing employees who are licensed marijuana holders. He says there are some jobs that those who smoke marijuana should not be allowed to do, similar to dangerous jobs that people with opioid prescriptions cannot legally perform.
“I understand the intent of that, they’re trying to get away from people just searching out marijuana users and keeping them from being employed, I get that. The problem is it’s not the intent, it’s the law. The law says now I can’t even test someone who has a license for medical marijuana to restrict them from dangerous duties at my place of employment. That’s dangerous,” Haines said.
