Weekly Opinion Editorial
THE TIMES ARE
CHANGING!
by Steve Fair
SQ#788 supporters are up in
arms because the Oklahoma state health department voted last week on the rules
for medical marijuana in Oklahoma. The
board voted to limit the amount of THC in certain products, restrict the
location and hours that medical dispensaries can operate, require a licensed pharmacist
to be on duty at the dispensaries, and prohibit the sale of smokeable
marijuana. The board acknowledged their
guidelines will likely be challenged in court and several groups have already announced
their intention to sue the state. Some
say this has taken the most liberal medical marijuana law in the country and
made it one of the most restrictive. Three
observations:
First, SQ #788 was poorly
written. The language gave great
latitude to the legislature and governor in how marijuana was to be dispensed
and regulated. Who knows what the
500,000 Oklahomans were thinking when they voted yes, but that really doesn’t
matter. It matters what the bill
actually said and #788 had more holes in it than Swiss cheese. If the proponents of #788 wanted smokeable marijuana,
they should have been more specific in their language. Unintended consequences are common in legislation
and this is a classic example.
Second, the board of health
and governor’s action should concern every Oklahoman. SQ #788 was approved by the people. Many of those who voted for it may not have
understood all the implications of what they were voting for, but #788 did
pass. When government works to protect
ourselves from ourselves, we have a major problem. If this can be done on this issue, it can be
done on others. No matter your political
leanings, reining in the overreach of government is more important than this
one issue. Republican gubernatorial
runoff candidates Kevin Stitt and Mick Cornett both said they disagreed with
the health department’s rules vote and believed the board was circumventing the
will of the people.
Third, the battle over
marijuana is not over in Oklahoma. A
group known as Green the Vote is in the process of circulating a petition to
get recreational marijuana on the ballot.
As of last week, they lack 20,000 signatures and have until August 8th
to complete the initiative petition. No
doubt they will get on the ballot, but it will not likely be in November. The governor establishes when a state
question is voted on and Governor Fallin is not likely to place it on the 2018 general
election ballot. Recreational marijuana
will be voted on in Oklahoma- it’s just a matter of time. Currently nine states and Washington DC have
legalized recreational marijuana. It
would be ironic if red state, conservative, Bible belt Oklahoma joined them.
Oklahoma is changing. While still
a political conservative stronghold, changing demographics and an overall lack
of conservative leadership has moved the Sooner state into one where libertarians
and progressives have made inroads. The
passage of SQ #788 is a perfect example.
While thirty states have some form of legalized medical marijuana, who
would have thought Oklahoma’s would be the most liberal. But in
a state with more slot machines per capita than any place on the planet, perhaps it’s not so surprising. 
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