Medical Marijuana Measure Must Clear More Hurdles Before Public Vote

Wednesday, August 24th 2016, 3:25 pm

By: Dana Hertneky

Oklahomans will likely have a chance to vote on legalizing medical marijuana. A last minute push by supporters proved successful. They gathered just enough signatures to put the proposal on the ballot. The question now is when will we vote?

On Thursday, August 18, Attorney General Scott Pruitt sent a letter to the Secretary of State saying he will rewrite the ballot title. He has until August 29, and his spokesperson says they are working to expedite the process. But that's just one of several legal hurdles the measure still has to clear before going on the ballot.

“I’m concerned it’s going to be delayed by the government and it’s not going to be on the ballot,” said Kim Harris.

Harris suffers from Sjogren’s syndrome, a painful autoimmune disease that leads to dryness, fatigue and joint pain. She thinks medical marijuana could help her.

“I want to have the option of having medical marijuana in order to avoid the dependencies that come with the opioids,” said Harris.

The State Supreme Court still has to rule on the signatures. The AG has to submit a new title, and the public has 10 days to challenge the signatures and ballot title. The deadline to get the measure on the November ballot is the end of August.

Joe Dorman who was heading up the effort says it looks like they will be only a few days short of making the deadline for November's ballot.

“We’ve reached out to the Governor’s office, reached out to the election board to see if there’s any way possible. But it doesn’t look like it,” said Dorman.

Dorman says they had hoped to gather enough signatures earlier so they wouldn't be up against this deadline. But turns out they needed every day.

The other options for a public vote are a special session or the 2018 primary in June or general election in November.

“While no one wants to wait two years for that, it’s nice to know there will be a vote on this should we clear these few remaining hurdles,” said Dorman.