Advocates in Oklahoma plan to file two petitions this week to begin gathering signatures in an effort to add constitutional amendments for both medical and recreational cannabis legalization in the state, according to a Tulsa World report. Green the Vote President Isaac Caviness said the group is seeking to add the reforms to the state Constitution in order to prevent lawmakers from being able to change the laws.
“Oklahoma’s constitutional amendments can’t be changed or even made a constitutional amendment without going before a vote of the people. And that’s the biggest protection that we have … against our lawmakers changing it to what they want versus what the people want.” – Caviness to Tulsa World
In order to get a constitutional amendment on the ballots, advocates would need to gather more than 124,000 valid signatures. Caviness indicated that under the recreational use petition, the first $100 million derived via taxes would be earmarked for teachers.
Oklahomans will decide whether to legalize medical cannabis in June, but it (SQ788) wouldn’t add it to the state Constitution. That petition was spearheaded by Oklahomans for Health. A Sooner Poll in January found that 62 percent of respondents supported the ballot question, but just 37 percent supported recreational legalization.