Campaigners celebrate SLAYING a $32 billion industry after Oklahomans reject recreational weed

Anti-marijuana activists were celebrating their victory against a better-funded adversary, dubbed “big cannabis,” on Wednesday after Oklahomans roundly rejected plans to legalize recreational weed in the state.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, anti-marijuana activist Kevin Sabet and others praised the results of Tuesday’s ballot initiative, in which 61.7 percent of voters to 38.3 percent derailed the effort to legalization.

Sabet, a former White House drug czar who now runs the Smart Approaches to Marijuana campaign, called the victory a victory for “public safety and common sense” despite the $32 buying power of the cannabis industry. billion.

“The industry cannot buy votes and take advantage of our children,” Sabet said.

“Despite having spent much more [campaigners] worked tirelessly to educate voters about the unintended consequences of legalization, ranging from more drunk driving incidents and workplace accidents to higher rates of use by youth.’

A cannabis dispensary in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where adults with a medical marijuana license can stock up

The ‘no’ side of Sabet and others spent more than 20 to 1, with supporters of the initiative spending more than $4.9 million, compared with about $219,000 against, campaign finance reports show. last minute.

Stitt, a Republican, said rejecting the ballot initiative known as 820 was “in our best interest to keep our children safe” and vowed to “hold bad actors accountable and crack down on illegal marijuana operations.”

Oklahoma would have become the 22nd state to legalize adult use of cannabis, joining conservative states like Montana and Missouri that have passed similar proposals in recent years.

Still, Oklahoma joins the list of red states that have recently opposed the legalization wave: Last year, voters in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota rejected their own legalization ballots.

Many Republican legislators and nearly all Republican senators joined Governor Stitt in opposing the idea. Former Republican Gov. Frank Keating, a former FBI agent, and Terri White, former Oklahoma drug and mental health chief, led the ‘no’ campaign.

Oklahoma voters in 2018 approved medical marijuana by 14 percentage points and the state has one of the most liberal programs in the country, with more than 2,800 licensed dispensaries and approximately 10 percent of adults licensed to purchase and use the drug. drug.

‘The industry can’t buy votes,’ says Kevin Sabet

State Question 820, the result of a signature drive last year, was the only item on the state ballot, and early results showed strong opposition in rural areas, with every county in the state rejecting the idea. .

If approved, the proposal would have allowed anyone over the age of 21 to purchase and possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, as well as concentrates and marijuana-infused products such as gummies.

Recreational sales would have been subject to a 15 percent excise tax on top of the standard sales tax. The excise tax would be used to help fund the judicial system, schools, substance abuse treatment and other public coffers.

Low barriers to entry into Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry have led to a rush of growers, processors and dispensary operators competing for a limited number of customers.

James Smith, president of the Oklahoma Police Chiefs Association, spoke at a rally against marijuana legalization earlier this month as part of a last-minute push by religious and law enforcement groups.

A vendor displays marijuana flowers at a dispensary in Oklahoma City, which has been flooded by medical marijuana shops in recent years.

The above shows the use of cannabis in the US states. Twenty-one states and DC have legalized it for recreational use in addition to medicinal use, while nearly all now allow it to be used for medicinal purposes.

Supporters expected the state’s marijuana industry to be boosted by a flood of customers from other states, particularly from Texas, which has about 8 million people living near the other side of the border with Oklahoma.

Michelle Tilley, campaign manager for Yes on 820, said that despite the result, the full legalization of marijuana was inevitable. She noted that nearly 400,000 Oklahomans already use marijuana legally and “many thousands more” use it illegally.

“A two-tier system, where one group of Oklahomans is free to use this product and the other is treated as criminal, makes no logical sense,” he said in a statement.

The US legal cannabis market had $26.1 billion in sales last year and is on track to hit $44.5 billion in sales by 2027, buoyed by the huge markets of California, New Jersey and New York, according to the research firm BDSA.

Sabet said the results were “against all odds” given “how deep the tentacles of the marijuana industry have reached” in Oklahoma, which has more medical marijuana dispensaries than Colorado, famous for its booming cannabis industry.

Pat McFerron, a Republican political strategist who led the opposition campaign, said the results were a “clear sign that voters are not happy with the recreational nature of our medical system.”

“It shows that voters recognize the criminal aspects, as well as the need to address the state’s mental health needs,” McFerron added.

Voters in Maryland and Missouri approved ballot measures in November to legalize recreational marijuana, bringing the number of states with such laws to 21, even as it remains illegal under federal law.

Experts have warned against America’s rapid shift to legalized marijuana amid growing evidence that widespread availability leads to increased use, particularly among young people, along with addiction and mental health problems.

The annual survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) last August found that the number of people under 30 using marijuana reached record levels in 2021, which the head of the agency, Dr. Nora Volkow, called of concern”.

The $32 billion cannabis industry argues that taking the drug, whether by smoking it, vaping it, or as an edible, can help alleviate feelings of anxiety or depression, chronic pain, and even help fight addiction.

The US Cannabis Council, a major lobby group, says legalization has broad support, that marijuana is safe and can help addicts overcome dependence on opiates and alcohol.

But in states where marijuana has been legalized, many parents say their children have spiraled into addiction.