Oklahoma marijuana activists have finalized the language of initiatives to legalize adult-use marijuana and remodel the state\u2019s existing medical cannabis program that they hope to place on the 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n
Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA) released draft versions of the proposals<\/a> earlier this summer, and the group has been soliciting feedback on how best to refine the measures. The group announced on Tuesday that after taking that input into account, they\u2019ve arrived at final text.<\/p>\n Under the recreational legalization measure, adults 21 and older would be able to possess up to eight ounces of marijuana that they purchase from retailers, as well as whatever cannabis they yield from growing up to 12 plants for personal use.<\/p>\n Marijuana sales would be subject to a 15 percent excise tax, and the initiative outlines a number of programs that would receive partial revenue from those taxes. The money would first cover implementation costs and then would be divided to support water-related infrastructure, people with disabilities, substance misuse treatment, law enforcement training, cannabis research and more.<\/p>\n The measure also lays out pathways for resentencing and expungements for those with marijuana convictions.<\/p>\n Oklahoma voters approved medical cannabis legalization at the ballot<\/a> in 2018. Unlike many state medical marijuana programs, it does not require patients have any specific qualifying conditions; doctors can recommend cannabis for any condition they see fit.<\/p>\n Activists with ORCA want to revamp the program, however. The separate initiative would establish the Oklahoma State Cannabis Commission (OSCC) to oversee all areas of the medical marijuana system. It would also set a seven percent excise tax on medical cannabis sales, with revenue supporting marijuana research, rural impact and urban waste remediation, agriculture development, mental health response programs, substance misuse treatment and more.<\/p>\n But while the measures<\/a> would appear separately on the ballot if they qualify, activists view them as complementary.<\/p>\n A key example of that is how the adult-use measure calls for a gradual decrease of medical marijuana tax, which would reach zero percent within one year of its enactment. Also, within 60 days of enactment, the state\u2019s existing medical cannabis dispensaries would be permitted to sell to the recreational market.<\/p>\n Oklahoma activists had previously attempted to qualify a legalization measure for the 2020 ballot.\u00a0They\u00a0filed a petition to legalize cannabis for adult use<\/a>\u00a0in December 2019, but signature gathering fell short due in part to procedural delays and the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n Both of the newly finalized initiatives would be constitutional amendments, meaning activists will need to collect at least 177,958 valid signatures from registered voters on each to qualify them for the ballot.<\/p>\n Oklahoma is one of a growing number of states where activists are working to place drug policy reform before voters next year.<\/p>\n Florida marijuana activists are making another push to place adult-use legalization before voters in 2022, recently filing a new petition with the state<\/a> after previous versions of the reform were rejected by the state Supreme Court earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n South Dakota cannabis advocates are now ramping up for a signature gathering effort<\/a>\u00a0to put legalization on the 2022 ballot as the state Supreme Court continues to consider a case on the fate of the legal cannabis measure that voters approved last year.<\/p>\n New Hampshire lawmakers are pursuing a new strategy to legalize marijuana in the state that involves\u00a0putting a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot<\/a>\u00a0for voters to decide on in 2022.<\/p>\n Lawmakers in Maryland are also crafting legislation to\u00a0place a marijuana legalization referendum on the 2022 ballot<\/a>\u00a0after the House speaker called for the move.<\/p>\n Nebraska marijuana activists announced recently\u00a0that they have turned in a pair of<\/a>\u00a0complementary initiatives to legalize medical cannabis<\/a>\u00a0that they hope to place on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n Ohio activists recently cleared a final hurdle to begin collecting signatures for a\u00a02022 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in the state.<\/p>\n Missouri voters may see a\u00a0multiple marijuana initiatives on the state\u2019s ballot next year<\/a>, with a new group filing an adult-use legalization proposal that could compete with\u00a0separate reform measures that are already in the works<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arkansas advocates are collecting signatures to\u00a0place adult-use marijuana legalization on the ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n Activists in Idaho are working to advance separate measures to legalize possession of recreational marijuana and to create a system of legal medical cannabis sales. State officials recently\u00a0cleared activists to begin collecting signatures<\/a>\u00a0for a revised initiative to legalize possession of marijuana that they hope to place before voters on the 2022 ballot. Meanwhile, a separate\u00a0campaign to legalize medical cannabis in the state<\/a>\u00a0is also underway, with advocates actively collecting signatures to qualify that measure for next year\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n After a House-passed bill to\u00a0legalize marijuana in North Dakota was\u00a0rejected by the Senate in March<\/a>, some senators hatched a plan to\u00a0advance the issue by referring it to voters on the 2022 ballot<\/a>. While their resolution advanced through a key committee, the full Senate blocked it. However, activists with the group\u00a0North Dakota Cannabis Caucus are collecting signatures<\/a>\u00a0to qualify a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis for the 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n Wyoming\u2019s attorney general recently issued ballot summaries for proposed initiatives to\u00a0legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize cannabis possession<\/a>, freeing up activists to collect signatures to qualify for the 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just marijuana measures that reform activists are seeking to qualify for state ballots next year. A California campaign was recently cleared to begin\u00a0collecting signatures for an initiative to legalize psilocybin<\/a>. And advocates in Washington State have announced plans to\u00a0put a proposal to decriminalize all drug before voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read the text of the Oklahoma adult-use and medical marijuana initiatives below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Click to access oklahoma-marijuana-initiatives.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n U.S. House Approves Marijuana Banking Reform As Part Of Defense Spending Bill<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Oklahoma Activists Finalize Language For Two 2022 Marijuana Ballot Initiatives<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma marijuana activists have finalized the language of initiatives to legalize adult-use marijuana and remodel the state\u2019s existing medical cannabis program that they hope to place on the 2022 ballot. Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA) released draft versions of the proposals earlier this summer, and the group has beenContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50075,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50074\/revisions\/50075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Oklahoma Activists Finalize Language For Two 2022 Marijuana Ballot Initiatives<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"