Finding a political balance with cannabis
Politicians and marijuana activists look ahead to future changes
A year after medical marijuana became legal in Oklahoma, state lawmakers and marijuana advocates seem to have found a balance in implementing State Question 788 and moving the industry forward into the near future.
Sweeping legislation — the result of a major compromise between legislators and cannabis advocates — to regulate the medical marijuana i ndustry will go i nto effect later this month.
Meanwhile, there are whispers of an initiative petition to put the question of legalizing recreational marijuana to a statewide vote, which could shake up Oklahoma's fledgling marijuana i ndustry and the new regulatory framework.
But lawmakers and medical marijuana supporters are largely in agreement that they want to let the state adjust to t he changes of SQ 788 and t he accompanying l egislation before any other major upheaval in the marijuana industry.
Leaders on both sides also doubt such an initiative petition could be successful.
Sen. GregMc Cortney, R-Ada, said he's unsure there will be a major push to legalize recreational marijuana because Oklahoma's medical cannabis program already has so many cardholders.
Oklahoma already has nearly 162,000 licensed medical marijuana patients — more than twice the number the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana
Authority anticipated this soon after legalization.
In a way, Oklahoma already has recreational marijuana because it's so easy to obtain a medical card, said McCortney, who played a large role in crafting a legislative framework for the implementation of SQ 788.
“The people who would want to make it recreational, I'm guessing they're already getting their marijuana and so going out and trying to get the signatures for a ballot initiative, it's a lot of effort,” he said. “I would be surprised if they put forth that effort, but you never know what people might do.”
At least 10 states that legalized medical marijuana, including California, Colorado, Nevada, Vermont Washington, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., later went on to legalize recreational cannabis use, typically through a ballot initiative.
An effort last year to ask voters to legalize recreational marijuana failed to get the required number of signatures to get on the ballot.
Chip Paul, an activist who authored SQ 788, said he's already been approached by several groups wanting to push an initiative petition to legalize recreational marijuana.
Largely, it's commercial business owners, who see how much money they could make through a recreational program, who are talking about an initiative petition, Paul said.
Paul, a co-founder of Oklahomans for Health, hasn't committed to help with another ballot initiative. Instead, he's more interested in making sure Oklahoma's elected officials are acting within the spirit of SQ 788.
“Medical marijuana is here to stay in Oklahoma, absolutely and I think that we will work very hard to protect the footprint that we've built,” Paul said.
The only way a recreational petition could be successful is if the cannabis activist network and Oklahomans for Health back the measure, Paul said. That could happen, but it depends on the actions of Oklahoma's lawmakers.
If lawmakers get behind SQ 788 and accept that it's the law of the land, then Oklahomans for Health will not get involved in another initiative petition, he said.
Paul praised the compromise lawmakers and cannabis supporters agreed to with the sweeping House Bill 2612, also referred to as the “Unity Bill,” which will set up a legal framework for SQ 788. The bill, which emerged from the 13- week bicameral Medical Marijuana Working Group is slated to go into effect Aug. 29.
“The `Unity Bill' is the work of the activist community, that is the work of the cannabis trade community and that is the work of lawmakers,” Paul said. “Were we all happy? No, but we all agreed this was a good starting point for regulation.”
House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols doesn't anticipate any legislative actions will trigger a recreational marijuana initiative petition. If there is an initiative petition, it'll come from people who always intended to push for recreational marijuana, he said.
He is optimistic the spirit of cooperation from the medical marijuana working group will carry forward.
Echols also is considering imposing a moratorium on most marijuana legislation for the 2020 legislative session. Given Echols' House leadership position, what he says goes.
“The debate I'm having now is whether or not it'd be better to just let things lie,” Echols said. “Oftentimes in the Legislature, there's this temptation to just keep tweaking stuff and keep tweaking stuff and keep tweaking stuff and never give some time for everybody to breathe.”
Bud Scott, executive director of the Oklahoma Cannabis Industry Association, said he supports taking a wait-and-see approach because many of the regulations for SQ 788 are just starting to take effect.
Scott said his position from the beginning was to implement a strong medical marijuana program in Oklahoma that could make the state a leader in the industry. Oklahoma's program is quickly becoming one of the most attractive in the country, but there are still growing pains and wrinkles that need to be ironed out, he said.
“I know that there are some people pushing for a recreational state question and my thoughts on it are let's get our program really running first,” he said.