Oklahoma is in the run for 2018. A
proposed statutory initiative would allow would allow doctors to recommend medical cannabis for any condition.
Qualified patients, after getting physician approval, would receive identification cards from the state, and would be allowed to possess three ounces of marijuana on their person and eight ounces at home. They could also cultivate six mature plants and six seedlings. And they would be allowed to possess one ounce of cannabis concentrates and 72 ounces of marijuana edibles.
Homebound patients could designate a caregiver who could purchase, grow or possess marijuana for them.
People who are caught with 1.5 ounces or less of cannabis and who don’t have medical marijuana cards but can state a medical condition would be met with misdemeanor offenses punishable by no more than a $400 fine.
The state would issue licenses for medical cannabis cultivation, processing, transportation and dispensing businesses.
A seven percent retail tax on medical cannabis sales would be levied. After covering implementation and regulation costs, additional revenue would fund education and drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.
Path to ballot: The measure has already qualified. There was a chance it could have appeared before voters in 2016 but, because a dispute over the measure’s official ballot title with then-Attorney General Scott Pruitt (now U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator) was not resolved by the state Supreme Court in time, its consideration was delayed until the next election. It is expected that the measure will go before voters in November, but there is a chance it
could be moved to the June primary ballot instead.
Who is behind the campaign: Oklahomans for Healthqualified the measure and is running the campaign to pass it.
Polling: A 2013 poll found that 71 percent of the state’s
likely voterssupport medical cannabis.