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Oklahoma voters will not get the chance to vote on a marijuana legalization initiative in November, with the state Supreme Court on Wednesday rejecting the campaign\u2019s lawsuit that sought to secure ballot placement this year.<\/p>\n
However, justices also dismissed two separate legal challenges to the ballot title, clearing the initiative\u2019s path for a vote during the state\u2019s next general or special election.<\/p>\n
While the secretary of state had certified that activists turned in enough valid signatures to qualify<\/a>, officials said that the campaign missed procedural deadlines for the 2022 election, prompting the lawsuit that\u2019s been under review by the state Supreme Court<\/a> for the past several weeks until this ruling.<\/p>\n Now the court has officially denied the campaign\u2019s request to compel the state to put Question 820 on the upcoming ballot.<\/p>\n Justices wrote in a unanimous 9-0 opinion<\/a> that the petitioners \u201ccannot show that they have a clear right to get SQ820 on the November 2022 general election ballot\u201d under state statute given the time constraints and the fact that there are still two legal complaints that need to be formally closed out.<\/p>\n A total of four petitions were filed against the initiative during the 10-day challenge period\u2014two that contested the signature certification and two that called for revisions to the ballot title and summary that the state attorney general provided for the campaign.<\/p>\n The court had already tossed out the signature-related complaints<\/a> and then denied<\/a> requests<\/a> for rehearings on Wednesday. Justices also rejected the challenges to the summary language<\/a>, but the petitioners can still submit requests for rehearings by next week.<\/p>\n That possibility for rehearings \u201cprevents this Court from fully resolving\u201d the issue in accordance with statute, the opinion says. \u201cThat, in turn, prevents the Secretary of State and the Governor from taking their final steps\u201d to put the initiative on the ballot this year.<\/p>\n Even if the court grants a rehearing and rules in favor of the petitioners, the remaining complaints don\u2019t seek to kick legalization off the ballot. Rather, the petitioners are asking the court to order a revision of the title because of what they\u2019ve identified as misleading omissions about what the measure would accomplish.<\/p>\n Plaintiffs in the one of the challenges<\/a>\u2014two of whom are affiliated with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau\u2014tried to argue that the language of the ballot title didn\u2019t adequately inform voters about five policy impacts of the proposal. For example, they said that the lack of disclosure about decriminalization provisions for people under 21 and firearm-related implications makes the title affirmatively misleading.<\/p>\n Luke Niforatos, CEO of the Protect Our Kids PAC, said last week that he \u201cpartnered to make this challenge happen.\u201d His organization was also involved in litigating against a Missouri cannabis legalization ballot measure, but that state\u2019s Supreme Court ultimately sided with the legalization campaign<\/a>\u00a0and cleared the initiative.<\/p>\n The other complaint<\/a> that the court rejected on Wednesday came from cannabis activist Jed Green, who previously failed to convince the court<\/a>\u00a0that State Question 820 violated the state Constitution\u2019s single-subject rule for ballot measures and that the summary was misleading.<\/p>\n In his filing, Green\u2014who led a separate campaign that attempted to put legalization on Oklahoma\u2019s 2022 ballot before giving up that effort\u2014similarly contended that there are compromising omissions in the ballot title, though he pointed to different components than those cited in the other complaint.<\/p>\n Specifically, he said that the title missed three \u201cfundamental\u201d provisions of the law that would be enacted if voters approve the initiative: 1) that the legislature could still amend the law if voters approve it, 2) that fines for public consumption would be limited to $25 and 3) that medical cannabis dispensaries would need to obtain a second license to serve adult-use consumers and adhere to those separate licensing requirements.<\/p>\n Again, the court determined in its rulings on Wednesday that the title is sufficient as is.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course we are disappointed that the Court did not grant our request to place SQ 820 on the November 2022 ballot,\u201d MichelleTilley, Yes on 820\u2019s campaign director, said in a press release. \u201cIt is disappointing that the Secretary of State\u2019s unqualified vendor, combined with rival amateur campaigns and political special interest groups, delayed the process, thereby preventing Oklahomans from voting on this in November.\u201d<\/p>\n However, we cannot lose sight of how far we have come,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a big deal. Now the petition phase is finished, and Oklahomans WILL be voting on whether to legalize recreational marijuana here, and we can soon realize the tax revenue and other benefits it will bring to our State.\u201d<\/p>\n Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws (OSML) has spent a significant amount of time in the state Supreme Court this election cycle. Hopes were raised after the court handed activists a temporary win last month by announcing that it would be delaying its decision<\/a> on ballot placement, but now it\u2019s issued a final determination.<\/p>\n Justices ultimately agreed with officials, who had argued that the campaign risked missing ballot printing cutoff dates. OSML tried to make the case that the deadlines were \u201carbitrary.\u201d<\/p>\n A major contention in the case was the fact that the secretary of state\u2019s ballot verification process was outsourced to a third party for the first time this year, and activists said that the company slow-walked the signature certification, potentially jeopardizing their ability to meet the printing deadline.<\/p>\n In a June letter, Oklahoma Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax also asserted that the governor would have needed to issue an executive proclamation to officially certify any ballot initiative by late last month. But advocates pushed back on that interpretation.<\/p>\n The court previously ruled that it would be assuming jurisdiction of the case\u2014and that the dispute would be \u201cheld in abeyance because the time period for filing objections to either the signatures or the ballot title has not yet expired.\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than simply issuing a ruling on ballot placement at that time, the court temporarily allowed the measure to proceed through the normal challenge process despite state officials arguing that key deadlines had already passed.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the cannabis legalization initiative<\/a>\u00a0would\u00a0achieve<\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The measure would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to one ounce of cannabis, grow up to six mature plants and six seedings for personal use. The current Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority would be responsible for regulating the program and issuing cannabis business licenses.<\/p>\n A 15 percent excise tax would be imposed on adult-use marijuana products, with revenue going to an \u201cOklahoma Marijuana Revenue Trust Fund.\u201d<\/p>\n The funds would first cover the cost of administrating the program and the rest would be divided between municipalities where the sales occurred (10 percent), the State Judicial Revolving Fund (10 percent), the general fund (30 percent), public education grants (30 percent) and grants for programs involved in substance misuse treatment and prevention (20 percent).<\/p>\n People serving in prison for activity made legal under the measure could \u201cfile a petition for resentencing, reversal of conviction and dismissal of case, or modification of judgment and sentence.\u201d Those who\u2019ve already served their sentence for such a conviction could also petition the courts for expungement.<\/p>\n OSML, which is being backed by the national New Approach PAC, is one of two citizen efforts to put legalization on the ballot that launched this year. The other campaign, Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA), was run by Green, the latest challenger of SQ 820.<\/p>\n \u2014 Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) claimed in his State of the State speech earlier this year that voters\u00a0were mislead when they passed an earlier 2018 initiative<\/a>\u00a0to legalize medical marijuana in the state, arguing that the measure may require legislative reform.<\/p>\n The governor said that the ballot question passed by voters \u201cwas misleading, and it has tied our hands as we regulate the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n For his part, state Rep. Scott Fetgatter (R)\u00a0said in an op-ed for Marijuana Moment<\/a>\u00a0that was published in March that states should legalize cannabis, but he wants to see the legislature craft thoughtful regulations for an adult-use program, rather than leave it to voters at the ballot.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, an Oklahoma Senate committee in April\u00a0unanimously approved a House-passed bill<\/a>\u00a0to allow for the cultivation and administration of psilocybin by eligible institutions for research purposes\u2014but the version that senators advanced omits a broader decriminalization provision that had previously been included. The legislation was ultimately not enacted before the end of the session.<\/p>\n Schumer Reaffirms Commitment To Marijuana Banking Reform In White House Discussion, Bill Sponsor Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel<\/a> and Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Oklahoma Supreme Court Says Marijuana Legalization Won\u2019t Be On November Ballot, But Will Be Voted On In Future Election<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma voters will not get the chance to vote on a marijuana legalization initiative in November, with the state Supreme Court on Wednesday rejecting the campaign\u2019s lawsuit that sought to secure ballot placement this year. However, justices also dismissed two separate legal challenges to the ballot title, clearing the initiative\u2019sContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":57180,"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\/57179"}],"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=57179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57181,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57179\/revisions\/57181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Oklahoma Supreme Court Says Marijuana Legalization Won\u2019t Be On November Ballot, But Will Be Voted On In Future Election<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"