Medical cannabis legalization to appear on Oklahoma ballot in 2018

Oklahoma will become the latest state to weigh in on the legalization of medical marijuana after the secretary of state’s office certified a ballot measure.

The measure, which nearly made the 2016 ballot, is backed by Oklahomans for Health. The measure’s certification was first reported by Tulsa’s Fox 23 News.

The group collected enough valid signatures last year to qualify for a statewide vote but was thwarted by a dispute with the attorney general’s office over the wording of the ballot measure title. The dispute lasted past the 2016 election date, and so the measure will appear on next year’s ballot instead.

Some of the initiative’s key business provisions:

• It would prohibit vertical integration and establish four key business license types: dispensaries, growers, processors (infused product makers) and transporters.
• The measure doesn’t contain numerical license caps, but any businesses would have to be at least 75% owned by Oklahoma residents.
• The entire system would have to be up and running quickly: The measure calls for the state to make business license applications available within 30 days of the law’s passage and then to either grant or reject submitted applications within two weeks.