We know you’ve already heard about the upcoming vote for adult-use or “recreational” cannabis, but short-term memory loss is a bitch.
Years in the making, State Question 820 will finally be put to a vote on March 7. It might just be the first time a cannabis initiative has stood alone on the ballot in this country.
To be sure, all bloodshot eyes will be on us that day. The stakes are high — and made higher — by the fact that the state legislature has already introduced bills, or at least shells of them, that could introduce qualifying conditions and THC limits of products sold in the current legal market.
But most importantly, this is Oklahoma’s chance to atone for its longstanding and draconian prohibition and enforcement policies which still result in thousands of people a year ending up behind bars for possessing a plant that is magically made legal by holding a piece of state-endorsed plastic. And that legalization effort is retroactive, meaning our overcrowded state prisons will see some much needed relief by way of releasing nonviolent offenders. And let’s face it, Oklahoma’s burgeoning restaurant scene — which recently received numerous James Beard Foundation semifinalist nominations — could certainly use the munchies money.
Sure, the cannabis industry here is oversaturated. Vape shops or Herbalife shake fronts morphed into dispensaries five years ago and many will be something else when the market boil reduces to a simmer. That’s going to happen regardless of legislation, but Oklahoma has done something unique here and there’s no reason why the industry — which brought more than $115 million in tax revenue in the preceding 18 months — should go up in flames prematurely.
