Politics
Oklahoma Marijuana Activists Say New Ballot Restrictions Signed By Governor Won’t Stop Their Legalization Push
Oklahoma activists say they won’t be deterred in their latest push to put marijuana legalization on the state ballot by a new law the Republican governor signed to significantly restrict the state’s citizen initiative process.
Just about two months after the group Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA) revived their push to end prohibition in the state, filing an initiative for the 2026 ballot to create an adult-use marijuana program, Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) gave final approval to legislation that some advocates worry will inhibit future citizen-led policy changes, including cannabis reform.
The newly enacted law would put additional requirements on initiative “gist” language that voters see on the ballot and also revise policies around signature gathering to make it so petitioners could only submit signatures from up to 11.5 percent of registered voters in a single county for statutory proposals and 20.8 percent for constitutional measures.
In theory, that could seriously complicate the task of getting enough signatures to qualify any measure for the ballot—perhaps especially for a cannabis legalization campaign where the expectation is that advocates would be collecting a large portion of signatures from more populous, left-leaning counties. Now there’s an explicit limitation on how many petitions can be signed in those jurisdictions.
But ORCA founder Jed Green said on Monday that this isn’t a fatal blow to the campaign, even if lawmakers who supported the ballot restriction legislation have now been assigned a “Double-F” grade for impairing the ability of voters to decide on key policy issues.
Green suggested that getting the ballot proposal filed ahead of the legislature’s vote and governor’s signing of the bill could help ORCA potentially avert challenges associated with the more stringent requirements for initiative summary language. He said that was a deliberate decision, as the group “wanted to go ahead and get in line and get filed before lawmakers made this error in judgment.”
That said, he recognized the hypothetical possibility that the state attorney general could move to contest the language, which has “the potential to get real messy.” But considering that the secretary of state approved the gist of an earlier, 2023 version of the legalization proposal that voters ultimately rejected, Green floated the possibility of bringing him in as a witness in any challenge to defend the legality of the summary.
“Now there’s not a chance the [attorney general] is going to screw us,” he said. “Let me be crystal clear about something on this: We’re not getting screwed, guys. This process is nothing like what we deal with with lawmakers here. This is a wholly separate animal, and I’ve got a shit ton of experience doing this.”
In social media posts, ORCA has similarly expressed frustration over the newly enacted law—but also confidence that they will be able to overcome the procedural obstacles.
“Not to worry y’all. The team here at ORCA has a couple decades of experience with this process,” it said on Monday, sharing a link to a story about the ballot initiative law. “This attempt to take away your rights and duplicate government will not age well!”
A group working on a separate initiative to institute open primary elections in the state has signaled that it will challenge the new ballot restriction law with litigation.
“SB 1027 is bad policy,” Margaret Kobos, founder and CEO of Oklahoma United, said. “It suppresses voter input, makes it harder for Oklahomans to hold their elected officials accountable, and sends the message that those in power don’t trust the people who put them there. SB 1027 does nothing but prove that Oklahomans’ long held distrust of state government is well-earned.”
Here’s what ORCA’s latest marijuana legalization initiative would accomplish:
- It would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to eight ounces of cannabis for personal use. They could also grow up to 12 plants and possess what’s harvested, and they would be able to have up to one ounce of cannabis concentrates.
- The proposed constitutional amendment would also provide that Oklahoma banks would not be penalized simply for servicing state-licensed cannabis businesses.
- Further, the initiative includes protections to make it so any adults would be shielded from being penalized with respect to “healthcare, housing, employment, public assistance, public benefit, parental right, educational opportunity, extracurricular activity” and also “licensure or licensed activity” such as firearm ownership and driving rights due to any legal cannabis activity.
- As part of those protections, the presence of THC metabolites in a person’s system could not be used as evidence of impairment.
- Local governments would not be permitted to impose bans on the marijuana home cultivation, and any regulations they set on the activity could not be “unduly burdensome.” Additionally, no public ordinances on public smoking for marijuana could be more restrictive than what’s currently in place for tobacco.
- Existing medical cannabis dispensaries, as well as any new retail licensees, would be able to start selling to adult consumers starting 60 days after the measure’s enactment. After 180 days, they could start delivering cannabis products to adults.
- The same state departments that oversee the current medical cannabis program would be responsible for regulate the adult-use market.
- A 10 percent excise tax would be imposed on adult-use marijuana products, and the initiative stipulates that the legislature would be empowered to decrease that tax rate but not raise it.
- Revenue from those tax dollars would go toward the state general fund (40 percent), as well as county governments (30 percent) and municipal governments (30 percent) where retail sales occurred. For unincorporated jurisdictions, revenue would be split evenly, with 5o percent for the general fund and 50 percent for the counties.
- Sixty days after the measure’s enactment, the tax rate on marijuana for registered cannabis patients would be eliminated.
- It also states that state-licensed marijuana businesses couldn’t be prevented from engaging in interstate commerce if there’s a change in federal law, or a court action, permitting such activity. If that happens, the legislature would be authorized to place up to a 3 percent wholesale tax on cannabis exported beyond state lines.
If the measure is cleared for signature gathering, ORCA will need to collect at least 172,993 signatures to secure ballot placement.
Green previously said that one of the key differences between the initiative his organization is pushing and the one that failed at the ballot in 2023 is that it accounts for concerns about licensing rules. Many have criticized the rollout of the state’s medical marijuana law, which led to a dramatic proliferation of dispensaries, and Green said the failed adult-use measure effectively duplicated that licensing scheme.
Meanwhile in Oklahoma, lawmakers in March advanced a bill aimed at protecting gun rights of state-registered medical marijuana patients, although federal law still bars cannabis users from owning firearms regardless of their patient status.
Another state bill filed in January by a GOP legislator would criminalize the use of medical cannabis during pregnancy.
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
