Oklahoma Secretary of State completes signature count for Medical Marijuana Amendment

Oklahoma Secretary of State James Williamson today announced his office has completed the counting of signatures for a state question that would ask voters to put the right to medical marijuana in the state constitution.

The secretary of state’s office counted a total of 95,176 for proposed State Question 796, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Constitutional Amendment.

As has been previously reported, the initiative required 123,725 signatures to be put on the ballot. That equates to 15 percent of 824,831, the total number of ballots cast in the 2014 gubernatorial election.

This measure would add a new article to the Oklahoma Constitution to allow for the classification or marijuana as an herbal drug to be regulated by the Oklahoma Cannabis Commission. The measure would permit the use of marijuana under the recommendation of a physician. It would allow the sale of marijuana to licensed patients by licensed dispensaries and allows the sale of marijuana to licensed dispensaries by licensed growers.

Revenue from taxes and fees from the marijuana sales would be used to fund the regulatory processes for the marijuana program, with excess revenue being split with 75 percent going to the Oklahoma State Department of Education and 25 percent to the Oklahoma State Department of Health. The measure would allow local municipalities to impose an additional tax to be used solely for the construction and repair of roads. The measure would also allow marijuana with less than 0.3 percent THC to be reclassified as industrial hemp and allows for the growth and commerce of industrial hemp when registered with the Oklahoma State Department of Agriculture

As required by law, the secretary of state’s office sent a report on its findings to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court will review the information and officially determine whether there are sufficient signatures to place the proposal on a ballot.

For further details on the state’s initiative and referendum petition process, click here.

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Copyright The Gayly 8/17/2018 @10:43 a.m. CST.