(This story has been updated with the correct launch date for the campaign.)
A campaign to put adult-use marijuana legalization before Oklahoma voters next year will begin gathering signatures next week.
If Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA) is successful, voters will see a marijuana legalization question on their ballots as early as next June’s primary election, the campaign said.
Aug. 6 is the launch date for the signature drive, organizer Jed Green told KOSU.
If it qualifies for the ballot and is passed, State Question 837 would:
- Preserve existing MMJ regulations, with sales regulated by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA).
- Allow adults 21 and older to purchase cannabis from existing MMJ dispensaries.
- Impose a new 10% excise tax on adult-use purchases.
It would also be Oklahoma’s second try at legalizing cannabis for all adults 21 and over.
Despite what’s long been considered the most lenient medical marijuana system in the U.S., state voters soundly rejected legalization in a March 2023 special election.
State law requires at least 173,000 signatures to qualify a constitutional amendment for the ballot.
Campaign officials say they plan to collect many more.
“Forget any number but 300,000 as a signature goal,” ORCA wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“If we hit that number, any challenge under any existing law is 99.99% likely to fail.”
But it will also be the first legalization push to contend with new, stricter requirements imposed on petition drives.
Under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, signature gatherers can’t focus on the state’s high-population centers – and the gatherers themselves must be Oklahoma registered voters.
Legalization might rescue a flagging cannabis industry in Oklahoma.
Medical marijuana in the state has significantly contracted after several years of explosive growth.
Forty percent of licensed operators let their permits expire over a 12-month period through July 2024.
