Oklahoma’s Moving Towards Recreational Weed
Looking back on conversations had over the last two and half years, I'm pretty sure everybody saw the day coming where marijuana would be completely legal for of-age adults across the board, no prescription required. It was a huge talking point for both people for and against the medical push in 2018. Proponents said medical mary-jane would make it easier to push The Sooner State into all-out legalization, so they were for it. Opponents also saw the medical vote as a slippery slope to that same all-out legalization. People from every background, of every religion, of every class of citizenry had an opinion, and they shared it every time the topic came up. The day of recreational marijuana is closer now than ever, and it looks like Oklahoman's will have their chance to vote on it later this year.
If you remember, the government let us vote on it because they figured the "reddest state in the nation" wouldn't let some looney-lefty shenanigans go through. Officials weren't fans of it because there's no telling how much money there was in keeping the plant illegal. Private prisons, federal funding, the war on drugs, etc... They thought they'd have a windfall of protection by leaving it up to democracy, but the people spoke and adopted there could be medical benefits to the reefer.
Skip forward to the now, and that same government has been fighting off the push for recreational use. Even after adopting the voters choice to regulate medical marijuana, they now stated that allowing the citizens to vote on a recreational measure would be unconstitutional in the United States since it's still federally prohibited, only that failed too. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that since the US Supreme Court hasn't challenged or ruled on citizens revoking prohibition status, and the fact that the federal government has ordered the matter to be left to each individual state, voters will have their chance to vote on it.
Does that mean it's on the ballot? No. This only means the petition to put the question on the ballot is now free to gather signatures... but therein lies another problem... Coronavirus.
Those looking to fill the petition with signatures are convinced it'll be impossible to gather the signatures needed and have the OK gov certify them by the time the election comes around in November. Worst case scenario, you'll have your say on the ballot in November 2022. That's not to say it can't be sooner... Governor Stitt could hold a special election in 2021, but as he's not a fan of any of this, people aren't optimistic. All the same, it could happen. The marijuana issue is viewed as a blue "libral" thing, and as such, this is why the medical question happened on a June voting ballot. They didn't want to risk a blue tide at the polls in November when it really counted.
Time will tell what will happen to the countries most debated horticultural phenom, I guess it's as good a time as any to start talking about it now.