Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Proponents Victorious in Ballot Fight

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NORML | April 6, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — The state Supreme Court of Oklahoma has ruled in favor of the proponents of a forthcoming statewide ballot measure to regulate medical cannabis access.

In a 7 to 1 ruling, justices rejected the state attorney general’s rewording of the initiative’s ballot title and ordered that the measure’s initial language be restored.

Initiative proponents, Oklahomans for Health, had argued that the revised title was purposely misleading because it did not…

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States’ fight against Colorado marijuana laws on tap in fed court

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A bid to stamp out Colorado’s recreational marijuana industry is scheduled to go before a federal appeals court Tuesday morning.

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver will hear oral arguments in an appeals case that claims Colorado’s recreational cannabis laws fly in the face of federal controlled substances and racketeering laws.

The case, a consolidation of separate appeals backed by national anti-legalization groups, was joined last year by the states of Nebraska and…

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Oklahoma Marijuana Policy Reforms Take Effect

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Three bills taking small but positive steps forward took effect  November 1, 2016, in Oklahoma.
The first bill, HB 2835, allows adults to use low-THC cannabis oil (minors were already covered by existing law), and added “spasticity due to multiple sclerosis or due to paraplegia, intractable nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation with chronic wasting diseases” to the list of qualifying conditions, in addition to severe epilepsy. The governor signed this bill on May 13, 2016. While this is a step forward, Oklahoma law does not…

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Medical Cannabis Will be on Future Oklahoma Ballot

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An Oklahoma campaign to legalize medical marijuana looks to have succeeded in getting an initiative placed on a future statewide ballot.

Oklahomans for Health, which turned in more than enough signatures to make this year’s ballot, said it is certain to go before voters at some point in the future, now that a 10-day window to challenge its signatures has expired. The group was too late for the Nov. 8 ballot, according to the Oklahoman, which said the measure could be on the 2018 ballot.


License Directory SidebarMeanwhile, the ACLU is challenging the Oklahoma…

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Lawsuit Over Ballot Language Likely to Delay Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Vote

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Lawsuit Over Ballot Language Likely to Delay Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Vote

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Litigation over the wording of a proposed 2016 statewide medical marijuana ballot measure will most likely prevent voters from deciding the issue this November.

Initiative proponents, Oklahomans for Health, are suing Attorney General Scott Pruitt after he rewrote the initiative’s ballot title in a manner that implies that the measure seeks to legalize marijuana use for all adults.

In fact, State Question 788 only permits the possession and use of marijuana by those who are recommended cannabis therapy by a state…

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Medical Marijuana Unlikely to Make Oklahoma Ballot

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Despite having passed the 65,987-signature threshold to secure a spot on the November ballot, it appears that medical cannabis won’t appear before Oklahoma voters this fall owing to a dispute over how the attorney general reworded the ballot initiative’s title.

The Associated Press reported that Oklahomans for Health, the group behind the proposed ballot measure, didn’t turn its signatures in with enough time to spare so that such legal disputes could be resolved before the Nov. 8 election. The group submitted its signatures on Aug….

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Oklahoma MMJ Camp Gathered Just Enough Signatures

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Oklahoma could become the ninth state to vote on some form of cannabis legalization in November after the secretary of state ruled on Tuesday that a pro-medical marijuana campaign submitted enough valid signatures to make the fall ballot.

The initiative, Question 788, faces a few more hurdles, however. The Oklahoma Supreme Court must approve the measure, and then the state’s attorney general would review the initiative’s title. After that, members of the public would be allowed to challenge either the signatures or the title, according…

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License Plate from a Marijuana State? That’s No Reason to Stop and Search, Fed Court Says

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License Plate from a Marijuana State? That’s No Reason to Stop and Search, Fed Court Says

DENVER, CO — Drivers from pot-friendly West Coast states have long complained of “license plate profiling,” claiming state troopers more interested in drug interdiction than traffic safety perch like vultures along the nation’s east-west interstate highways pull them over on pretextual traffic stops—going 71 in a 70 mph zone, failing to wait two full seconds after signaling before making a lane change, weaving within a lane—because their plates make them suspected marijuana traffickers.

Since Colorado blossomed as a medical…

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Top Legislative Victories of 2016

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Now that most state legislative sessions are over for the year, MPP’s Rob Kampia has published a list of the biggest victories in what is already the biggest year on record for marijuana policy reformers!Rating_Badge_JO

On July 29, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed a bill removing the threat of arrest for small amounts of marijuana, capping a record year of legislative and administrative marijuana policy reforms throughout the country.

Two states, Pennsylvania and Ohio, enacted effective medical marijuana laws via their legislatures, making them…

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Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Campaign Submits Signatures

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A campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma submitted tens of thousands of signatures on Thursday to the secretary of state’s office in a bid to get a ballot question before voters this November.

The group, Oklahomans for Health, needed to hand in at least 65,987 valid signatures of registered voters to make the ballot. A campaign spokesman said he’s not certain if organizers gathered enough, but estimated that the group is likely within 5,000 above or below, the Tulsa World reported.

“We are close,” a supporter told the…

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Oklahoma Governor Signs Law Expanding Patient Pool Eligible for CBD Therapy

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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed legislation into law on Friday, May 13, to expand the pool of patients eligible to possess cannabidiol (CBD) under a physician’s authorization.

Presently, Oklahoma law exempts patients with intractable forms of pediatric epilepsy from state criminal penalties if they possess liquid preparations containing CBD and no more than three-tenths of one percent THC.

House Bill 2835 extends existing legal protections to the following patients: those with “spasticity due to multiple…

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NE, OK Again Try to Overturn CO Rec Marijuana Law

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The attorneys general of Nebraska and Oklahoma aren’t ready to throw in the towel in their bid to overthrow Colorado’s recreational cannabis law, after the duo recently failed to do so before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The two attorneys general have asked to be added as plaintiffs in a separate case aimed at scuttling Colorado’s 2012 voter-approved rec law. That case is now before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

According to the Lincoln Journal Star, just making the request…

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Supreme Court Dismisses States’ Lawsuit Against Colorado

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Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Nebraska and Oklahoma’s lawsuit challenging Colorado’s marijuana regulation laws.

The decision is available here.

The attorneys general for Nebraska and Oklahoma filed the lawsuit directly with the Supreme Court in December 2014, arguing that the state’s decision to regulate the cultivation and distribution of marijuana was “placing stress on their criminal justice systems.” The Colorado and U.S. governments both filed briefs urging the court to dismiss the…

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Our Recent Supreme Court Victory and What It Means

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The recent decision by the US Supreme Court to refuse to hear a challenge to the Colorado marijuana legalization law was a significant victory for those who favor legalizing marijuana and a significant set-back for those who thought the federal courts might help them hold on to the increasingly unpopular policy of criminal prohibition. The name of the case was States of Nebraska and Oklahoma v. State of Colorado.

Original Jurisdiction

First, here’s a brief lesson in Supreme Court jurisprudence. Nearly all cases that make it to the US…

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Marijuana Lawsuit Against Colorado Rejected by SCOTUS

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In 2012, Colorado voted to legalize marijuana production, sales, and consumption for adults, but two neighboring states claimed the law is causing marijuana to spill into their states, creating a law enforcement burden, and that the law is a violation of the Controlled Substances Act.

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to hear a lawsuit Nebraska and Oklahoma brought against Colorado’s marijuana legalization law, a rare case falling under the Court’s original jurisdiction to hear lawsuits between states.

In…

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US Supreme Court Tosses States’ Lawsuit Against Colorado Over Marijuana Legalization

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US Supreme Court Tosses States’ Lawsuit Against Colorado Over Marijuana Legalization

The United States Supreme Court has refused to take up a lawsuit filed by Nebraska and Oklahoma over Colorado’s legalization of marijuana.

WASHINGTON, DC — On Monday, the United States Supreme Court declined to take up a lawsuit filed against Colorado by neighboring states over the legalization of marijuana.

The lawsuit was filed in 2014 by the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma, who asked the Court to find that Colorado’s laws legalizing the state-licensed production and sale of marijuana to adults violates the United…

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Oklahoma House Votes to Expand Conditions Eligible for CBD

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Oklahoma House Votes to Expand Conditions Eligible for CBD

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Lawmakers in the Oklahoma House have approved a proposal to expand the conditions that qualify for the state’s limited cannabidiol-only medical cannabis law.

In a bipartisan 89-6 vote earlier this week, lawmakers approved House Bill 2835, sending the bill to the Senate for further consideration.

The bill would allow the same patient protections currently available to those with intractable forms of pediatric epilepsy to those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, chronic pain, neuropathic pain, spasticity…

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Two Good Bills Passed the Oklahoma House This Week

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Two moderate marijuana policy improvement bills passed the Oklahoma House this week, and will now move on to the Senate. One, HB 2479, would reduce Oklahoma’s draconian penalties for marijuana possession. It would cut, from two years to one year, the mandatory minimum sentence for a second or subsequent marijuana possession conviction within 10 years of the first. It would also reduce the maximum sentence for such a conviction from 10 years to five years.

The second bill, HB 2835, which has been improved by…

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Scalia’s Death Could Scuttle Anti-Rec Lawsuit

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Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s untimely death could have a major impact on the cannabis industry.

On Friday, the court will weigh whether or not to take up a lawsuit that aims to overturn Colorado’s landmark recreational cannabis law.

For the lawsuit to advance, at least four justices have to vote in favor of hearing the case.

No one knows how Scalia would have voted. But given his history and public comments, it’s quite possible he would have supported a move to take…

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Green the Vote’s Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Drive Falls Short

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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — An all-volunteer effort to gather the necessary signatures to place a measure legalizing medical marijuana before voters in November has fallen short.

Volunteers from Green the Vote collected a little over 70,000 of the required 123,725 signatures needed to qualify for the 2016 ballot.  Had they been successful, Oklahoma voters would have been asked to approve an initiative that would have added an article to the Oklahoma Constitution to allow medical marijuana use if recommended by a doctor.

Medical marijuana…

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SCOTUS Should Dismiss States’ Challenge to Colorado Marijuana Legalization, Solicitor General Says

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WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli Jr., issued a statement Wednesday advising the Supreme Court not to hear a lawsuit Nebraska and Oklahoma filed against Colorado’s marijuana legalization law last December.

Oklahoma and Nebraska attorneys general filed the suit in hopes of re-criminalizing marijuana in Colorado, claiming it had created a burden on their own law enforcement agencies and because marijuana is still federally illegal.

The Solicitor General stated, “Entertaining the type of dispute here – essentially…

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Obama Administration Urges Supreme Court to Dismiss States’ Suit Against Colorado Pot Law

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In a brief filed Wednesday, the US Solicitor General urged the Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit by the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma against Colorado’s marijuana legalization law.

The two states had filed the lawsuit in December 2014, complaining that “the State of Colorado has created a dangerous gap in the federal drug control system” and that “marijuana flows from this gap into neighboring states, undermining Plaintiff States’ own marijuana bans, draining their treasuries, and placing stress on their criminal justice…

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Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill Authorizing Clinical Trials of CBD for Children with Epilepsy

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Gov. Mary Fallin signs bill to allow children with epilepsy access to CBD trials, but states “I will never support the legalization of marijuana in Oklahoma.”

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Mary Fallin signed House Bill 2154 into law on Thursday, authorizing a medical pilot program allowing the medically supervised use of cannabidiol (CBD) — a low THC non-intoxicating derivative of marijuana — for children with epilepsy.

House Bill 215, which passed the legislature earlier this month, will allow children…

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Colorado Defends Marijuana Legalization Law; Asks SCOTUS to Drop Suit

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DENVER, CO — States are free to legalize marijuana, Colorado argued Friday in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court in response to a lawsuit from neighboring states that have asked the nation’s highest court to shut down Colorado’s pot law.

The filing marks the first time Colorado has defended legal marijuana in writing. The federal government did not sue to block the state’s 2012 vote to legalize pot for all adults over 21.

Colorado said that Nebraska and Oklahoma should sue the federal government for not enforcing the Controlled Substances Act, not other states. Colorado said the states’ “quarrel is not with Colorado but with the federal government’s” approach to letting states experiment with pot law.

“Nebraska and Oklahoma filed this case in an attempt to reach across…

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Colorado’s Marijuana Legalization Laws Under Attack in Federal Court

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DENVER, CO – A group of 11 sheriffs and county attorneys from Colorado and neighboring Plains states filed a federal complaint against Colorado’s Gov. John Hickenlooper to stop the sale of recreational marijuana in that state.

The complaint challenges Colorado’s Amendment 64 under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the federal Controlled Substances Act, saying it places an unfair burden on the law-enforcement offices to corral the overflow of recreational marijuana now spilling into areas where possession remains illegal.

“The nation’s anti-drug laws reflect a well-established balance of national law enforcement, foreign relations, and societal priorities,” the complaint states. “If allowed to continue in effect, Amendment 64’s legalization and…

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Sheriffs Sue Colorado Over Marijuana Legalization

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DENVER, CO — In another attempt to thwart the will of Colorado voters, sheriffs from Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming that the state’s law legalizing marijuana creates a “crisis of conscience” and puts an economic burden on other states.

Larimer County (Colorado) Sheriff Justin Smith is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, which asks a federal court in Denver to strike down the 2012 voter-approved Amendment 64, and to order the state’s licensed marijuana stores — over 330 at last count — to close.

Sheriff Smith claims that every day he must decide whether to violate the Colorado Constitution, under which marijuana is legal, or the United States Constitution.  Marijuana is prohibited at the federal level.

Smith is joined by sheriffs in…

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Oklahoma Republicans Encourage AG to Drop Lawsuit Against Colorado Over Marijuana Legalization

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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Citing concerns that it could undermine their own state’s fight to govern themselves under the 10th Amendment, several Republican lawmakers in Oklahoma are urging Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt to drop his lawsuit against the state of Colorado’s legalization of marijuana.

The lawsuit, titled States of Nebraska and Oklahoma v. State of Colorado, was filed in December by Pruitt and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and asks the United States Supreme Court to strike down Colorado’s law legalizing marijuana on the basis that it is “fundamentally at odds” with the federal Controlled Substances Act.

The suit, filed directly with the US Supreme Court, alleges that marijuana is being diverted into their states from Colorado, causing plaintiffs to suffer…

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