OKLAHOMA CITY – Supporters of an initiative petition drive that sought to legalize recreational marijuana have withdrawn it.
Supporters of State Question 837 were allowed to begin collecting signatures on Aug. 6. They needed 172,993 signatures by Monday to get it on the ballot.
Jed Green, a supporter of the citizen-led effort, on Monday notified the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s office that they were withdrawing the petition.
“While our effort has been extremely strong, it is apparent we will fall short of numerical sufficiency for a constitutional question,” Green wrote.
Green could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Supporters had hoped to become the first initiative petition to qualify for a ballot under a new more arduous process signed into law in May.
Senate Bill 1027 puts more restrictions on the process voters use to get issues on the ballot. Among other things, it puts caps on the number of signatures that can be collected by county.
The measure has drawn legal challenges.
In July, Green said he was confident the signature requirement could be met under the new law because his organization had statewide support.
In 2018, 57% of voters approved legalizing medical marijuana.
But less than five years later, they defeated a proposed state statute change to legalize recreational marijuana. The vote was nearly 62% against State Question 820.
Republished in partnership with Oklahoma Voice under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Oklahoma Voice is a part of States Newsroom which is a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and Twitter.
Barbara Hoberock is a senior reporter with Oklahoma Voice. She has covered the statehouse since 1994 and served as Tulsa World Capitol Bureau chief. Hoberock covers statewide elected officials, the legislature, agencies, state issues, appellate courts and elections.
