OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahomans overwhelmingly rejected recreational marijuana Tuesday. Each of the state’s 77 counties voted no with two of Oklahoman’s largest counties – Oklahoma and Cleveland – voting down the measure by less than one percent. Tulsa County voted it down by a slim six percent.
Supporters of the state question said it would have decriminalized the drug. Ryan Kiesel with “Say Yes on 820” said the measure was not about legalizing marijuana, but about keeping Oklahomans out of the criminal justice system.
Kiesel said 4,500 Oklahomans were arrested in 2021 for minor marijuana offenses.
Damion Shade is the executive director for Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform.
“We’ve made good strides into not arresting and incarcerating as many people,” said Shade.
He said the post-conviction problem was what has been hurting the state.
“If you have one of those old marijuana criminal convictions, you are five times more likely to be unemployed. You are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness,” said Shade. “These are issues that people who still have old, low level marijuana felonies are desperately trying to escape.”
Part of the state question on Tuesday’s ballot said it would “provide a judicial process for people to seek modification, reversal, redesignation, and…
