Oklahoma and Pennsylvania are at different places on their respective paths toward adult-use cannabis legalization. But on Monday, both states took significant steps toward that end. In Pennsylvania, State Rep. Jake Wheatley (D-Allegheny) announced his plan to introduce progressive marijuana legislation. And in Oklahoma, the cannabis advocacy group Green the Vote announced it had acquired the required number of signatures to put a vote for adult-use legalization on the ballot in November. Both build on the considerable momentum recent efforts to reform drug policy have generated in those states.
Oklahoma Could Vote on Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization This November
One month ago, Oklahoma voters approved State Question 788, legalizing cannabis for medical use. Almost immediately, lawmakers and officials opposed to the measure began adding restrictions to the new program, including a highly controversial ban on smokable medical marijuana.
Oklahoma Republicans joined Democrats to call for the Oklahoma Board of Health to revise draft regulations for the program. The board released their revised version last Friday. The new rules remove many of the major restrictions for which the anti-cannabis Oklahoma State Medical Association had successfully lobbied.
As part of that battle, a persistent anti-cannabis talking point had been that Oklahoma voters did not know what they were saying yes to when they approved SQ 788. But voters and lawmakers pushed back, vowing to fight for the program as they had voted for it.
Building on that momentum, the pro-cannabis group Green the Vote circulated a petition to put a question on legal adult-use cannabis on the November 2018 ballot.
On Monday, the group announced that it had collected nearly 10,000 more than the required 124,000 signatures needed by Aug. 8 for the measure to make it on the