Lankford, pro-Rx pot group bicker over Bible
The debate over medical marijuana in Oklahoma wound along the usual avenues of political discourse for months before detouring Monday down a backroad of biblical interpretation.
On the day before voters decide whether to legalize medical marijuana via State Question 788, U.S. Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma City Republican and former Baptist preacher, took issue with a mailer that accuses him of theological hypocrisy and claims the Bible supports marijuana use.
Quoting from Genesis, the mailer from Yes on 788’s political action committee states, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”
Lankford, who has made clear in recent weeks his opposition to SQ 788, called the mailer “bizarre.” He said attempts to justify marijuana use with biblical quotes are “the ultimate irony” and an effort by SQ 788 proponents to “twist reality” to win the election.
“It was just a really bizarre attack to try to use Scripture to be able to support people smoking more marijuana,” Lankford said in an interview Monday. “I certainly don’t think that the Bible encourages more parents to get high and all the side effects and things that happen with marijuana use.”
Jed Green, director of Yes on 788, said the mailer was not a personal attack on Lankford.
“Providing a medicine to hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans who would benefit is our goal. Obviously, many of us who support SQ 788 share the Christian faith,” Green said.
In addition to the Genesis passage, the mailer contains two biblical references that are veiled criticisms of Lankford. On the front side it quotes from Exodus: “On June 26th, let’s remind our senator, ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'"
On the backside, below a reference to campaign donations Lankford received from pharmaceutical groups, the mailer quotes from Matthew: “No one can serve two masters ... You cannot serve both God and money.” Lankford called the accusation bizarre.
“Trying to claim that it’s drug companies putting me up to fight against them — that there’s some conspiracy to keep people from getting medications unless they go through a drug company— just seems really odd and a little bit conspiratorial,” the senator said.
Green defended the quote, saying, “$100,000 in campaign contributions linked to pharma as reported to the Federal Election Commission is not a conspiracy, it is public record.”
Lankford and other critics of SQ 788 allege it legalizes recreational marijuana use, not medical marijuana, due to the relatively large amount of marijuana patients would be allowed to buy. They also take aim at ambiguities in the proposed law, such as whether smoking in public would be prohibited, as it is with tobacco.
The mailer from Yes on 788 states Lankford “should know the Oklahoma Smoking in Public Places Act prohibits ALL smoking in public places.” The senator says the matter is far from resolved and will need to be clarified by the Oklahoma Legislature.
Lankford, who never served in state government, rarely wades into the murky waters of state policy but said he felt a strong urge to do so on the issue of marijuana.
“This has just such a dramatic effect on our families and our schools and our businesses and the future of our state," he said. "I just felt compelled to be able to step up and speak as just another Oklahoman to say, I’m really concerned, if this passes, what happens with driving under the influence, what happens with workplace injuries, what happens with college students and dorms and the growth of marijuana.
“I just don’t know of anyone who can say with a straight face, ‘The best thing for our families is to get more parents and grandparents to smoke marijuana.’”
Green hopes Lankford will talk with his group after Tuesday’s vote and support a Senate bill that would allow states to set marijuana policy. The bill was introduced by Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., earlier this month.