Oklahoma voters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to allow adults 21 and over to buy and consume cannabis. If the measure passes, the state will become the 22nd in the U.S. to legalize pot for adult use.
The vote on State Question 820 was scheduled for March 7 on an executive order from Gov. Kevin Stitt, who personally opposes adult-use cannabis.
The measure was originally planned for the November ballot after a group called Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws collected 164,000 signatures, but it was pulled due to a delay in verifying those signatures. Oklahoma voters approved medical cannabis in 2018.
With just over 4 million people, Oklahoma is the 28th-largest U.S. state by population. And although it’s a politically conservative state, it has a relatively large medical cannabis program, with about 369,000 patients, 7,100 growers, 2,877 dispensaries and 1,828 processors.
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State Question 820, in addition to legalizing adult-use cannabis, would introduce a 15% excise tax on recreational-use sales, on top of applicable sales taxes, to fund implementation of the law.
Any surplus revenue will go toward public-school programs to address substance abuse and improve student retention, and to the state’s general revenue fund and drug-addiction treatment programs.
Pennsylvania legislator introduces cannabis measure
With Democrats controlling the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and with the election as governor of Josh Shapiro, who supports adult use, the prospects for ending the prohibition on adult use of cannabis in the state appear to be improved. Voters also elected the cannabis-friendly John Fetterman as a U.S. senator in November.
However, Republicans control the state Senate, and generally, the GOP has been less supportive of adult-use cannabis.
Pennsylvania ranks as the fifth-largest state by population, with nearly 13 million people. It has roughly $1.75 billion in annual medical-cannabis sales.
State Rep. David M. Delloso, a Democrat, introduced a cannabis-legalization measure on Feb. 27. He pointed out that in 2017, police arrested more than 27,000 Pennsylvania residents for cannabis possession, and the state spent about $46 million to prosecute people for that crime.
Delloso said in a statement that the bill would free up law enforcement to focus on violent crime and other issues. He also cited a report by the Pennsylvania auditor general that estimates legalization would raise hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue.
It’s not known whether the Senate will go along, but the topic of cannabis has been addressed by the GOP in recent hearings.
This past week, North Carolina also moved closer to introducing a medical cannabis program, with lawmakers in the state Senate granting initial approval to a bill.
Voters in both Maryland and Missouri approved adult-use sales in November.
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