Ballot initiative for medical MJ

[invisible]

With any luck, medical MJ will be on the ballot in OK in November. The signatures were turned in today at exactly 4:20 PM. The number of signatures is believed to have just barely passed the required numbers, so it will come down to how many are invalidated. The Secretary Of State cleared their schedule to be able to personally be present, calling this event "historic". Here's the initial story, there should be an updated story with video later:

http://www.news9.com/story/26291906/...uana-petitions

Volunteers for Tulsa-based Oklahomans for Health began delivering signed petitions to the Oklahoma Secretary of State's Office on Friday. The group faces a Saturday deadline to gather the signatures of more than 155,000 registered Oklahoma voters to place the issue on the ballot.

But Chip Paul, who filed the initiative petition in April, says he believes organizers will fall short of the number needed. Paul says many of the signature petitions may be invalidated because they do not meet the format requirements of state law.

[invisible]

Updated article with video:
http://www.news9.com/story/26294253/...ssue-on-ballot

[Okie RP fan]

So 75,000+ official signatures and supposedly 20,000-30,000 never made it out of Tulsa due to formatting issues. Assuming those were valid, we're looking at 100,000~ (out of 155,000 required) signatures for something unprecedented in this state on a relatively short notice. I'd say this is a victory.

Come next year, those signatures will be produced, people will be educated, and we will see the tide of discussion turn around very quickly.

Thanks to Oklahomans for Health for driving this as vehemently as they did.

[invisible]

So 75,000+ official signatures and supposedly 20,000-30,000 never made it out of Tulsa due to formatting issues. Assuming those were valid, we're looking at 100,000~ (out of 155,000 required) signatures for something unprecedented in this state on a relatively short notice. I'd say this is a victory.

Come next year, those signatures will be produced, people will be educated, and we will see the tide of discussion turn around very quickly.

Thanks to Oklahomans for Health for driving this as vehemently as they did.

The formatting issues were never discovered until way too late in the game. Many of the activists on this issue are new to activism, and they learned for next time. For now, hopefully the issue can be successfully injected into the Governor's race. But yes, there are several ways in which this is still a win:
New activists becoming politically engaged
New voters being registered
Greater awareness of the issue among both elected officials and the voting public
Possibly more signatures obtained than in CO and WA
What I'd really like to see is how the number of signatures compares to CO and WA. I suspect that we got more signatures than they did in those states where this effort was successful.

[Okie RP fan]

Bumping this thread for visibility.

A renewed push will partake in just a couple months. Please start educating family and friends on the subject and get them ready to sign the petition.

Group launches petition to legalize medical marijuana
Posted: May 30, 2015 8:35 PM CDT
Updated: May 30, 2015 8:35 PM CDT
By: Tom George, Reporter

"Oklahomans could soon have the opportunity to vote on allowing medical marijuana in the state

The group Oklahomans for Health announced it will be launching a petition that would allow the use of medical marijuana for people with a documented need for it.

Last year, a similar petition fell short. This year, the group will need around 130,000 signatures of registered voters to get the measure on the ballot.

This year, lawmakers passed "Katie's Law," which allows the use of cannabis oil for conditions like seizures, but only with low THC content.

Brittany Warrior moved to Colorado from Tulsa with her 2-year-old daughter Jaqie. Jaqie has improved from having hundred of seizures a day to making strides in therapy, talking, and moving. Her mom says "Katie's Law" doesn't go far enough for her daughter.

The group will start gathering signatures in August, and have until October to get to 130,000. From there, medical marijuana will go to voters."

http://www.okcfox.com/story/29198612...at_pco=cfd-1.0

[Okie RP fan]

Oklahomans, and anyone peering through who's interested or has family/friends in OK, this is a message for you:

Please start educating as many people in the state that you can about marijuana, specifically medial use of marijuana.
This could be a huge boon for state tourism, immigration, reduced crime involving marijuana (after all, the majority of the crimes are committed because it's illegal), revenue, and last, but not least, it can be a big ol' middle finger to D.C.

Marijuana has been prohibited through fear and ignorance for decades. It's time we reverse course and acknowledge the benefits of legalization. While this latest push will be for medicinal purposes, be aware that nonetheless, it would be a huge step for Oklahoma.

Oh, and don't wait, or don't say "I'll do it in a month." Because some of these ideas need time to be molded in. And the ballots should start circulating in August, if I'm not mistaken.

[luctor-et-emergo]

Oklahomans, and anyone peering through who's interested or has family/friends in OK, this is a message for you:

Please start educating as many people in the state that you can about marijuana, specifically medial use of marijuana.
This could be a huge boon for state tourism, immigration, reduced crime involving marijuana (after all, the majority of the crimes are committed because it's illegal), revenue, and last, but not least, it can be a big ol' middle finger to D.C.

Marijuana has been prohibited through fear and ignorance for decades. It's time we reverse course and acknowledge the benefits of legalization. While this latest push will be for medicinal purposes, be aware that nonetheless, it would be a huge step for Oklahoma.

Oh, and don't wait, or don't say "I'll do it in a month." Because some of these ideas need time to be molded in. And the ballots should start circulating in August, if I'm not mistaken.

It's mind-boggling that it's 2015 and humans as a collective are still as ignorant as ever.

Brittany Warrior moved to Colorado from Tulsa with her 2-year-old daughter Jaqie. Jaqie has improved from having hundred of seizures a day to making strides in therapy, talking, and moving. Her mom says "Katie's Law" doesn't go far enough for her daughter.

Who doesn't cry when they see these stories ? I'm not even a kids person really (probably more that I don't like a lot of parents, the kids generally are reasonable when separated from them).. But when I see a really sick kid improve. Makes my tear up out of amazement. I think recreational weed should be like coffee but that has nothing to do with this... It's just amazing how stupid the world can be when there's 'apparently' such an amazing medicine available and we put people in jail for it. It makes me amazingly sad. Like I said, it's 2015 and we're still that ignorant collectively.


/edit, sorry, I wish I could help but I don't know anyone from OK.

[Okie RP fan]

Ballots are going around and should be until the end of December.

Get out there and educate everyone and get those ballots signed!

[Okie RP fan]

This was another failure this year. The organization lacked too early on and the group who ran it this time (different from the group who ran it the previous year), saw an uptick in volunteers in December, basically when it was too late.
I believe they're going to try again later this year, but from what I've read around, it's not crazy to assume that the two major marijuana advocacy groups in the state may actually combine forces this time. But, who knows?

At this point, it's encouraged to contact your reps and sens and ask them to consider authoring a bill to legalize medical marijuana, for starters.
Medical Marijuana SAVES lives and there are people who have to move out of state for treatments.

And the most important part: KEEP EDUCATING FRIENDS AND FAMILY ABOUT MARIJUANA and how it is not as dangerous as we've been told for decades.