Oklahoma Court Denies Voters the Chance to Vote on Recreational Cannabis Legalization this November

​Sadly, Oklahoma residents will not be able to vote on legalized recreational adult use cannabis this November.

A court confimed though, that they do have enough signatues and they will get to vote on it, just not in this November’s election.

A high court in the state has just wrote in their majority opinion that, unfortunately, “There is no way to mandate the inclusion of [this bill] SQ820 on the November 2022 general election ballot.”

Justice Douglas Combs wrote that the legalization bill, “…will be voted upon by the people of Oklahoma, albeit either at the next general election following November 8, 2022 … or at a special election set by the Governor or the Legislature.”

The cananbis activst group, Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot, and turned them in a month early. But because of some sneaky political moves, the voting took more than three times longer than usual to count the signatures. This caused the measure to miss the printing deadline for the fall ballot.

The campaign group petitioned the courts to require the state to put the issue on the ballot, and there was some hope that might happen, after the court threw out some of the objections to the petition.

However, yesterday was the final blow, stating it just was not possible and the measure would not be making it to vote on this November.

Campaign director Michelle Tilley said in a statement, “It is disappointing that a few people with their own political interests were able to use the process to prevent voters from voting on this in November. However, we cannot lose sight of how far we have come. This is a big deal. Now the petition phase is finished, and Oklahomans will be voting to legalize recreational marijuana here, and we can soon realize all the benefits it will bring to our state.”

​The state’s Republican Governor, Kevin Stitt, said he opposes the proposal. He told the Associated Press that, “… in our state, just trying to protect our state right now, I don’t think it would be good for Oklahoma.” 

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