Demand grows for medical marijuana

OKLAHOMA CITY — Despite two failed attempts in as many years, organizers of the latest push to legalize marijuana in Oklahoma are convinced most Oklahomans now support legalizing the drug for medical use.

If they can get at least 66,000 Oklahomans to ink their name to their initiative petition in three months, they’ll get to test that theory. Voters would be asked to decide on the November ballot whether Oklahoma should be the 25th state in the nation to legalize access to medicinal marijuana.

Supporters of the measure say they’re frustrated that the Legislature hasn’t taken bigger strides in making marijuana more accessible to the sickest of Oklahomans.

“Why shouldn’t it be considered an option?” asks former State Rep, Joe Dorman, now a city councilman in Rush Springs. “It’s ridiculous to have something outlawed when there are signs it could help someone.”

Last year, Oklahoma became the ninth state to allow access to cannabidiol. The bipartisan measure allows sick children access to the oil, which contains low levels of a cannabis extract — tetrahydrocannabionol, the most psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Oklahoma allows extracts with no more than 0.3 percent THC — a level with almost no chance of intoxication or abuse, authorities say.

But for supporters, including Dorman, the law doesn’t go far enough.

Dorman has become a board member with the group Oklahomans for Health, which is spearheading the efforts to get the measure on the November ballot. The group launched a similar campaign in 2014. While ultimately gathering 75,000 signatures, organizers were tens of thousands of signatures short of what was needed to get the measure on that year’s ballot.

Then a petition championed by a different group last year — this one calling for full legalization — garnered even fewer signatures.

This year will be different, they vow.

Dorman said voter interest this year is strong given the presidential election. Also, given the low turnout numbers in the state’s 2014 gubernatorial election, the signature threshold needed to get the issue on the ballot is much lower than in previous years. Plus, there’s been increasing support to expand access to the marijuana beyond sick youth.

“Each person who has a family member who’s been impacted by cancer or pain pill addiction is certainly going to give this a second look,” Dorman said.

It’s not surprising that the number of people signing their name onto such petitions is declining, said Mark Woodward, a spokesman for the state’s Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Woodward said Oklahomans aren’t ready for any sort of legalization beyond the oil, which is strictly regulated and controlled.

The public believes Oklahoma is improving medical access to marijuana without needing to legalize other forms of the drug, he said.

“I think a lot of the public is asking what’s the point of allowing people to smoke, get high,” and then say it’s for medical reasons, he said.

In other states supporters of full legalization, who believe medical access measures help “lower the stigma about marijuana,” have fueled similar campaigns, Woodward said.

“They’re using sick people to push their agenda,” he said. “That’s our concern. They openly admit they want to push the medical issue in order to get it available to those that want to smoke it.”

Also, states — like neighboring Colorado — which have legalized the drug have struggled with abuses. Those abuses have led to problems such as overdoses, public intoxication and underage access, Woodward said.

“You get a lot of collateral problems that come along with legalizations,” he said.

Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhi.com.