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With the overwhelming majority of precincts reporting, just over
62% of voters had cast ballots against the recreational pot
legalization measure known as Question 820, compared with nearly
38% who supported it, the state's unofficial results showed.
The vote came nearly five years after Oklahoma voters approved
legalizing cannabis for medical purposes.
The measure would have made it legal for adults 21 and older to
purchase and possess up to an ounce of marijuana, and to grow as
many as six mature cannabis plants for personal use.
It also would have placed a 15% tax on sales of all recreational
marijuana products, with revenues divvied up between
municipalities and the state's general fund, public education
grants and substance abuse programs.
The existing state medical marijuana authority would have been
tasked with regulating and licensing commercial cannabis
businesses.
In addition, individuals already convicted of low-level
marijuana offenses that the measure proposed to make legal could
have sought re-sentencing or have their records expunged.
As of this year, 21 other U.S. states have fully legalized
marijuana for adults, according to a Reuters tally, but cannabis
remains classified as an illegal narcotic under federal law.
Advocates of liberalized marijuana laws argue that
criminalization of low-level possession squanders law
enforcement resources and disproportionately affects people of
color. Taxing cannabis, they argue, would generate millions of
dollars in new state revenues.
Opponents say legalizing pot can lead to increases in crime,
automobile and workplace accidents and a rise in drug use among
children.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles. Editing by Gerry
Doyle)
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