Senate runoff may show how voters feel about pot proposal
S TATE Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, hopes to become Oklahoma’s next U.S. senator even as she’s hitched her political wagon to the cause of marijuana legalization. We’ll soon know if Johnson’s fellow Democrats believe marijuana is the path to renewed electoral success in Oklahoma.
Supporters have begun gathering signatures to place the proposed State Question 773 on the ballot. The measure would legalize possession of one ounce of marijuana for personal use and legalize possession of three ounces for “medical” use.
It’s actually the second marijuana petition underway. Another one, launched by Oklahomans for Health, would legalize marijuana for supposed medical use (although it defines “medical” quite liberally). However, that proposal doesn’t seek forthright legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes. Thus, Johnson’s effort is the most ambitious underway in Oklahoma when it comes to drug legalization.
Under the proposed constitutional amendment touted by Johnson, Oklahomans age 21 and older could legally purchase an ounce of marijuana and possess up to six marijuana plants. The quantity increases to three ounces if the pot is to be used as a form of medicine.
But taken as a whole, the provisions of Johnson’s proposal appear little more than a hodgepodge of legalization concepts, thrown together without focus or cohesion, generating somewhat contradictory messages.
The proposal calls for taxing recreational marijuana at $7 per ounce, but the tax on sales of medical marijuana would be 7 percent. In Colorado, where marijuana has been legalized, the drug currently sells for $198 to $340 per ounce, according to Time magazine. An April posting on FiveThirtyEight.com (an analytical website) determined the median sticker price for an ounce of recreational marijuana in Denver was $200.
If the $200 pricing is duplicated in Oklahoma, then under Johnson’s proposal an Oklahoma user of medical marijuana would pay a tax of roughly $14 an ounce, while a recreational user would pay just $7. So her proposal includes a financial incentive for people to be recreational users, not medical.
At the same time, the proposal does not require a prescription for “medical” use of marijuana. Under the petition plan, a license allowing medical use of marijuana must be issued to anyone over 18 who can get an Oklahoma board-certified physician to sign an application certifying that the applicant has a qualifying medical condition. That’s a lifetime license that remains valid even if the qualifying medical condition goes away, which is likely since qualifying conditions include such things as headaches and PMS.
At their core, those provisions allow lifetime recreational marijuana use under the guise of medical treatment. Yet for some reason, the petition provides for two different tax treatments even when both sets of marijuana sales may be for identical purposes.
If approved by voters, Johnson’s proposal also requires that the new law be applied retroactively to all marijuana cases pending in any Oklahoma court. In short, it would literally provide a “get out of jail free” card to many current drug offenders. The proposal also includes provisions that earmark marijuana taxes for public education and health needs — apparently assuming it never hurts to claim that your cause “benefits” schools.
On Aug. 26, Johnson will face perennial candidate Jim Rogers in the Democratic runoff election for the Senate seat being vacated by incumbent Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee. Like so much about the drug legalization movement, Johnson’s proposal appears (forgive the phrase), half-baked. We’ll know on Aug. 26 if Democratic voters agree.