Robert Celt
New Member
Oklahomans, thankfully, are getting another chance to do the right thing.
A new initiative petition aimed at legalizing medical marijuana is now in the secretary of state's hands and soon could be available for signing — with the goal of giving voters the right this November to decide whether it's good public policy.
Previous petition drives failed to garner enough signatures to secure a spot on the statewide ballot — evidence, opponents say, that Oklahomans don't want to liberalize marijuana laws.
Not exactly. It's difficult for a band of rank-and-file citizens in their spare time to collect thousands of valid signatures in only three months, regardless the issue. Even well-funded campaigns with paid signature-gatherers often fail.
It's true that legislators improved chances for success by lowering the number of signatures required, but it remains logistically — practically — a major hurdle to get a proposal on the statewide ballot.
Just months after Green The Vote failed in a similar endeavor, Oklahomans For Health is trying again, this time hoping to give voters the opportunity to pass judgment on a statutory, rather than a constitutional change.
A proposal to modify Oklahoma's constitution currently requires more than 120,000 valid signatures to force a statewide vote — it's based on the turnout in the last general election. Modifying an Oklahoma statute — in this case, creating a law that legalizes and regulates medical marijuana — only needs about 66,000 valid signatures to reach the statewide ballot.
The Legislature, of course, could tinker with a statute, something that cannot be done with the constitution. But it would be tricky politically for lawmakers to alter a voter-approved statute without appearing to be undermining the will of the people.
The proposal's ballot fate would hinge, of course, on who turns out to vote, but it's hard to imagine a majority of Oklahomans opposing strictly regulated legalization. Why? Well, many Sooners are related to, or friends of, someone who benefits medically from illegally securing marijuana.
I saw the benefits firsthand nearly four decades ago when my aunt was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. The chemotherapy was debilitating. She could scarcely keep down the food necessary to keep up her strength.
Her normally law-abiding family chose to break the law in a last-ditch effort to ease her agony, illegally obtaining marijuana. They mixed it with butter and spread it on crackers. She didn't survive the cancer, but her quality of life improved dramatically.
Today Oklahomans flock to Colorado to take advantage of marijuana legalization. Some purchase creams to rub on arthritic hands. Others choose edibles that help with anxiety or headaches.
The pipeline is one reason Attorney General Scott Pruitt mounted what turned out to be an unsuccessful lawsuit against Colorado's marijuana legalization.
How is Oklahomans legally purchasing marijuana in Colorado materially different from Americans loading up on lower-priced prescriptions in Mexico? Or me on a family trip to Canada in the mid-1990s stocking up on over-the-counter Claritin, then a prescription drug in the U.S.?
The new drive to legalize medical marijuana received a big boost when former state Rep. Joe Dorman — the 2014 Democratic nominee for governor — joined the Oklahomans for Health board and served as one of the group's spokespersons at this week's state Capitol news conference announcing the petition effort.
It's inevitable that medical marijuana will be legal someday in Oklahoma. After all, it's the one thing that unites hippies and hillbillies, to paraphrase Willie Nelson.
Why not now? Tax it. Regulate it. Give people the option to use it — in consultation with their doctor. What's to lose?
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: OK: Medical Marijuana, Willie Nelson And The Will Of The People
Author: Arnold Hamilton
Contact: The Journal Record
Photo Credit: None found
Website: The Journal Record
A new initiative petition aimed at legalizing medical marijuana is now in the secretary of state's hands and soon could be available for signing — with the goal of giving voters the right this November to decide whether it's good public policy.
Previous petition drives failed to garner enough signatures to secure a spot on the statewide ballot — evidence, opponents say, that Oklahomans don't want to liberalize marijuana laws.
Not exactly. It's difficult for a band of rank-and-file citizens in their spare time to collect thousands of valid signatures in only three months, regardless the issue. Even well-funded campaigns with paid signature-gatherers often fail.
It's true that legislators improved chances for success by lowering the number of signatures required, but it remains logistically — practically — a major hurdle to get a proposal on the statewide ballot.
Just months after Green The Vote failed in a similar endeavor, Oklahomans For Health is trying again, this time hoping to give voters the opportunity to pass judgment on a statutory, rather than a constitutional change.
A proposal to modify Oklahoma's constitution currently requires more than 120,000 valid signatures to force a statewide vote — it's based on the turnout in the last general election. Modifying an Oklahoma statute — in this case, creating a law that legalizes and regulates medical marijuana — only needs about 66,000 valid signatures to reach the statewide ballot.
The Legislature, of course, could tinker with a statute, something that cannot be done with the constitution. But it would be tricky politically for lawmakers to alter a voter-approved statute without appearing to be undermining the will of the people.
The proposal's ballot fate would hinge, of course, on who turns out to vote, but it's hard to imagine a majority of Oklahomans opposing strictly regulated legalization. Why? Well, many Sooners are related to, or friends of, someone who benefits medically from illegally securing marijuana.
I saw the benefits firsthand nearly four decades ago when my aunt was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. The chemotherapy was debilitating. She could scarcely keep down the food necessary to keep up her strength.
Her normally law-abiding family chose to break the law in a last-ditch effort to ease her agony, illegally obtaining marijuana. They mixed it with butter and spread it on crackers. She didn't survive the cancer, but her quality of life improved dramatically.
Today Oklahomans flock to Colorado to take advantage of marijuana legalization. Some purchase creams to rub on arthritic hands. Others choose edibles that help with anxiety or headaches.
The pipeline is one reason Attorney General Scott Pruitt mounted what turned out to be an unsuccessful lawsuit against Colorado's marijuana legalization.
How is Oklahomans legally purchasing marijuana in Colorado materially different from Americans loading up on lower-priced prescriptions in Mexico? Or me on a family trip to Canada in the mid-1990s stocking up on over-the-counter Claritin, then a prescription drug in the U.S.?
The new drive to legalize medical marijuana received a big boost when former state Rep. Joe Dorman — the 2014 Democratic nominee for governor — joined the Oklahomans for Health board and served as one of the group's spokespersons at this week's state Capitol news conference announcing the petition effort.
It's inevitable that medical marijuana will be legal someday in Oklahoma. After all, it's the one thing that unites hippies and hillbillies, to paraphrase Willie Nelson.
Why not now? Tax it. Regulate it. Give people the option to use it — in consultation with their doctor. What's to lose?
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: OK: Medical Marijuana, Willie Nelson And The Will Of The People
Author: Arnold Hamilton
Contact: The Journal Record
Photo Credit: None found
Website: The Journal Record
