Oklahoma Voters Reject Legalized recreational Marijuana

Legalización de la Marihuana recreativa

(Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) Tuesday march 7thth, the citizens of Oklahoma defeated State Question 820, the ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana. This is the latest of a series of wins for public health, including the defeating of legalization in Arkansas, South Dakota, and North Dakota, as well as several state legislatures rejecting marijuana.

"Today’s rejection of marijuana is a huge win for public health, public safety, and common sense," said Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of SAM Action. “The historic results of tonight’s election show that the industry cannot buy votes and profit off our kids. Despite being vastly outspent by the industry and its allies, our coalition partners in Oklahoma worked tirelessly to educate voters about the unintended consequences of legalization, ranging from more inci- dents of impaired driving and workplace accidents to higher youth use rates. Following the roll-out of medical marijuana in Oklahoma––which led to the unprecedented outgrowth of the state’s illicit market––voters were about to see firsthand how the liberalization of our drug laws routinely fails to deliver as promised.”

"We cannot thank Pat McFerron and CMA Strategies enough for their top notch work when outspent enormously by the industry. Our coalition partners did an incredible job getting voters across Oklahoma engaged on this issue. I cannot thank their staff and volunteers enough for their hard work and dedication to public health and safety. I also want to acknowledge and thank the many doctors, faith leaders, law enforcement groups, parents, and social justice champions who publicly came out in opposition to legalization and helped us defeat this ill-conceived ballot measure."

Oklahoma's governor and top prosecutor issued statements Tuesday night after the defeat of SQ 820.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said: "Oklahomans rejected State Question 820. I believe this is the best thing to keep our kids safe and for our state as a whole." "Oklahoma is a law and order state.

I remain committed to protecting Oklahomans and my administration will continue to hold bad actors accountable and crack down on illegal marijuana operations in our state."

Attorney General Gentner Drummond made the following remarks: "I'm proud of Oklahomans for rejecting the expansion of organized crime by defeating State Question 820. Regardless of where one stands on the question of marijuana legalization, the stark reality is that organized crime from China and Mexico has infiltrated Oklahoma's medical marijuana industry. I will continue to focus on this serious threat to public safety by targeting the illegal grow operations throughout our state."

State Question 820 would have legalized recreational marijuana in Oklahoma, a state that legalized medical marijuana in 2018.