State Sen. Constance Johnson has filed a bill to legalize marijuana in Oklahoma and place its regulation under the control of the state Health Department.

“I think with our current system of laws and punishments for simple possession, we are burying ourselves into a pit where the costs are unsustainable,” said Johnson, who has made several unsuccessful past attempts to liberalize Oklahoma's marijuana laws.

Johnson said she believes unnecessarily harsh laws have ruined young people's lives, and that decriminalizing marijuana would reduce gang activity and violence.

Opposition to Johnson's bill has come quickly from some Oklahoma law enforcement officials.