SoonerPoll: Oklahoma Remains Strongly Opposed To Recreational Marijuana Legalization

Thursday, August 29th 2019, 2:25 pm

By: News 9

More than a year after Oklahoma's passage of a state question legalizing medical marijuana, voter sentiments about recreational legalization remain strongly negative.

A recent SoonerPoll showed more than 59 percent of Oklahoma voters would oppose marijuana legalization being expanded to include recreational use. Of those asked, 50.2 percent said they "strongly oppose" recreational legalization.

State Question 788 passed in June 2018 by a 57-43% mark, and the medical marijuana industry has taken off in the state. Entrepreneurs have been opening dispensaries across Oklahoma, and state officials have worked to regulate the industry.

Just last week, Gov. Kevin Stitt approved several new regulations for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, effective Sept. 14.

And effective at the end of August is the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act, which mandates that employers cannot discipline, fire or deny employment to Oklahoma just because they're medical marijuana patients.

They also can't fire a patient for a positive medical marijuana test.

The SoonerPoll showed that Oklahoma voters held a generally favorable opinion about medical marijuana in the state after last year's passage. Nearly 51% of those asked said they had a favorable opinion of medical marijuana in Oklahoma, and just more than 41 percent had an unfavorable opinion. Nearly 8% of poll participants had no opinion or didn't know how they felt about medical marijuana.

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