LINDSAY, Okla - Danny Daniels, an evangelical Christian in the rural Oklahoma town of Lindsay, is reliably conservative on just about every political issue. The 45-year-old church pastor is anti-abortion, voted for President Donald Trump and is a member of the National Rifle Association who owns an AR-15 rifle. He also came of age during the 1980s and believed in the anti-drug mantra that labeled marijuana as a dangerous gateway drug. But his view on marijuana changed as his pastoral work extended into hospice care and he saw patients at the end of their lives benefiting from the use of cannabis. [continues 687 words]
A medical marijuana activist in Oklahoma says the county sheriff forcibly escorted him out of a forum, but the sheriff says he thinks the scuffle was an "orchestrated" deal with an attempt to rattle law enforcement. Chip Paul, co-founder of Oklahomans for Health, said he was attending a forum about the proposed legislation for legalizing medical marijuana when he was forced out by Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton. The organization is the official proponent of legalizing medical cannabis in Oklahoma through State Question 788. [continues 666 words]
On Nov. 21, 2012, Sheila Bartels walked out of the Sunshine Medical Center in Oklahoma with a prescription for a "horrifyingly excessive" cocktail of drugs capable of killing her several times over. A short time later, she was at a pharmacy, receiving what drug addicts call "the holy trinity" of prescription drugs: the powerful painkiller Hydrocodone, the anti-anxiety medication Xanax and a muscle relaxant known as Soma. In total, pharmacists handed her 510 pills that day - all legal, because she had a prescription with the signature of her doctor, Regan Ganoung Nichols, scrawled at the bottom, according to a probable cause affidavit. [continues 761 words]
BEIJING -- U.S. assertions that China is the top source of the synthetic opioids that have killed thousands of drug users in the U.S. and Canada are unsubstantiated, Chinese officials told the Associated Press. Both the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy point to China as North America's main source of fentanyl, related drugs and the chemicals used to make them. Such statements "lack the support of sufficient numbers of actual, confirmed cases," China's National Narcotics Control Commission told DEA's Beijing field office in a fax dated Friday. [continues 1179 words]
AFTER several failed efforts, proponents of legalizing "medical" marijuana in Oklahoma may have collected enough signatures to put the issue before voters. So it's worth looking at the actual content of this measure, even though logistical challenges may postpone a vote until after November's elections. Prior medical marijuana proposals have been laughably broad. The legal language for proposed State Question 788 is better, but problems and loopholes remain that should concern Oklahomans. Proponents like to portray the proposed system as comparable to going to the drugstore for a prescription painkiller. But the language of SQ 788 undermines that image. Under the proposal, someone with a state-issued medical marijuana license could both produce and use marijuana. That's not typical for most controlled substances. [continues 430 words]
Controversy continued to swirl Friday over a ballot title rewrite for a state question aimed at legalizing medical marijuana. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Thursday released his rewritten version of the ballot title for State Question 788. On Friday, the attorney general's office received several calls thanking the office for the quick turnaround time on the revision and questioning "our rewrite," said Lincoln Ferguson, a Pruitt spokesman. The ballot title summarizes a state question for voters. The revision includes: "This measure legalizes the licensed use, sale, and growth of marijuana in Oklahoma. There are no qualifying medical conditions identified." [continues 874 words]
Elections Medical Marijuana Supporters Say Title Is Now Inaccurate; November Vote Unlikely OKLAHOMA CITY - Supporters of an effort to legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma said Thursday they will challenge the ballot title rewording by Attorney General Scott Pruitt. The ballot title explains the measure to voters. Pruitt on Thursday submitted the ballot title for State Question 788, a measure that if approved by voters would legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma. "There is no way we can let the Pruitt ballot title stand," said Chip Paul, a spokesman for Oklahomans for Health, which secured the signatures to get the issue before voters. [continues 545 words]
Supporters of legalization of medical marijuana on Wednesday vowed to press getting the issue on the Nov. 8 ballot, despite a series of deadlines that make it nearly impossible. On Tuesday, state officials said Oklahomans for Health had collected more than enough signatures to get the issue before voters. Supporters collected 67,761 signatures; the requirement was 65,987 signatures. But a series of deadlines means the question likely will have to wait until June or November 2018, the next scheduled primary and general elections. [continues 469 words]
It's A Bad Idea, but SQ 788 Ought to Be on the Ballot If Possible If State Question 788 doesn't make November's ballot, proponents have no one to blame but themselves. Still, in the best spirit of democracy and to save some money, state officials ought to do everything reasonable to get the medical marijuana proposal before voters in November if possible. Secretary of State Chris Benge announced Wednesday that the petition had 67,761 signatures, enough to qualify for ballot access provisionally. (A companion proposal to give proponents of initiative petitions more time to gather signatures fell short of the mark, Benge announced last week.) [continues 367 words]
An initiative petition to let Oklahomans vote on whether to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes has enough signatures to potentially get on the ballot, Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge announced Tuesday. Backers of the petition say they hope to get the issue on the November ballot, but state officials say time constraints may make that impossible. If the issue fails to make the November ballot, voters still might get a chance to vote on it later during a special election or the 2018 primary or general election, officials said. [continues 417 words]
Tents flapped in the northwest Oklahoma City wind as Michael Beck and another man arrived in a pickup, ready to sign a petition seeking a state vote to legalize medical marijuana. Beck, 25, said he has never used marijuana, but he has a niece who can benefit from it and whose mother and father have moved to Colorado where it's legal. Flags bearing a marijuana leaf and medical symbol waved in the wind as Beck talked. A group known as Oklahomans for Health is taking petition signatures until Aug. 11 on the northeast corner of N Meridian Avenue and Northwest Expressway. They hope to gather 66,000 legible signatures from registered voters, said Frank Grove, a board member of the group who is volunteering to work at the tents the group calls "Fort Canna." [continues 228 words]
Civil Asset Forfeitures From Prepaid Cards Prompt New Concerns Over Civil Liberties. The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has purchased several devices capable of seizing funds loaded on to prepaid debit cards to aid troopers in roadside seizures of suspected drug-trafficking proceeds. The portable card scanners are designed to be carried in law enforcement vehicles, allow troopers to freeze and seize money loaded onto a prepaid debit card, and to return money to an account whose funds were seized or frozen. [continues 1519 words]
A Compassionate Expansion Gov. Mary Fallin signed into a law a modest expansion of a state law that allows therapeutic uses of a nonintoxicating ingredient of marijuana for a limited number of medical conditions. Previously, Fallin OK'd a law that allowed use of cannabidiol, or CBD, for patients under age 18 in a limited number of circumstances. The latest version allows adults to use CBD for treatment of "spasticity due to multiple sclerosis or due to paraplegia, intractable nausea and vomiting and appetite stimulation with chronic wasting diseases." [continues 200 words]
I have been a dedicated reader of the Tulsa World for probably 50 years and have never read a more uninformed editorial ("Medical pot," April 18). There are many respectful doctors and members of the media including a multisegment report by Dr. Sanjay Gupta on NBC that outlines and documents the advantages of medical marijuana for certain types of illnesses. What you do not realize is that most of the types of medical marijuana available in legal states, like Colorado, does not contain the ingredient that makes the person taking it high, just provides relief from pain and seizures. As a parent with a daughter who cannot take any traditional pain relievers, a trip to Colorado gave her tremendous relief. Come on, Tulsa World, become informed. James R. Adelman, Tulsa [end]
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma House has given final approval to legislation that expands the medical use of an oil derived from marijuana. The House voted 69-14 for the measure and sent it to Gov. Mary Fallin to be signed into law. The treatment allows the medically supervised use of cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating derivative of marijuana. Backers say the oil effectively treats people who experience epileptic seizures. Previously, its use was limited to children under 18, but the bill approved Thursday removes the age restriction. The measure also allows its use to treat spasticity due to multiple sclerosis, paraplegia and symptoms of chronic wasting disease. Last year, Fallin signed legislation authorizing the use of cannabidiol in children but said she remains opposed to legalizing all medical marijuana. [end]
Oklahomans Aren't Ready for It If at first (and second) you can't succeed ... Supporters of legalizing the medical use of marijuana have filed a third attempt at a statewide ballot petition. Similar petitions were filed the past two years and both fell short of gathering enough support to make the ballot. But there's reason for some supporter optimism this time. Instead of seeking a constitutional amendment, Oklahomans for Health are only looking for a statutory change, so their signature threshold is lower. They need 65,987 signatures. One of the previous attempts at a constitutional amendment reportedly gathered more than 75,000 signatures. [continues 197 words]
DENVER - Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is trying a new tactic in his fight to have Colorado's legalization of recreational use of marijuana overturned. Pruitt and his Nebraska counterpart are asking an appeals court to allow them to join a court case that may decide whether federal law against marijuana pre-empts Colorado's legalization. The two attorneys general on Thursday jointly asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow them to intervene in the case. Opponents of legalized marijuana are pursuing that case at the Denver-based appeals court. [continues 346 words]
Oklahoma, Nebraska Officials Continue a Battle Against Colorado. DENVER - Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is trying a new tactic in his fight to have Colorado's legalization of marijuana for recreational use overturned. Pruitt and his Nebraska counterpart are asking an appeals court to allow them to join a court case that may decide whether federal law against marijuana preempts Colorado's legalization. The two attorneys general on Thursday jointly asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow them to intervene in the case. Opponents of legalized marijuana are pursuing that case at the Denver-based appeals court. [continues 388 words]
They Will Try a Petition Drive for the Third Time. OKLAHOMA CITY - Supporters of legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes will try for a third time to get the issue on the statewide ballot. Oklahomans for Health on Monday filed papers with the Secretary of State's Office indicating its plans to circulate another initiative petition. A similar effort in 2014 by the group failed to secure the needed signatures. Last year, another group, Green the Vote, failed to secure the needed signatures to get the issue on the ballot. [continues 295 words]
Oklahoma voters would be asked to legalize medical marijuana under an initiative petition filed Monday with the secretary of state's office. It calls for the state Health Department to regulate the dispensing of marijuana to people with a doctor-signed license to obtain it. A 7 percent tax would be applied to retail sales, with the money going first to finance regulatory expenses. Then, 75 percent of excess funds would go to common education and 25 percent to drug and alcohol rehabilitation. [continues 439 words]
The Pontotoc County Drug Free Coalition is hosting a town hall meeting to discuss marijuana legalization and the statewide impact it has had on Colorado. The event takes place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 21 at the Pontotoc Technology Center. This event is open to the community as well as those outside of Pontotoc County. No registration is required and it is free to attend. The speaker will be Thomas Gorman, director of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area out of Denver. Mr. Gorman is a FBI National Academy graduate and served with the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agency for many years. Gorman is a veteran undercover agent, having received two Purple Hearts from being wounded while undercover. Upon retiring from the BNE, Gorman took on his current position as Director in 1997. [continues 282 words]
Even if you oppose marijuana legalization, as I firmly do, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision recently not to interfere in the decision of Colorado voters to end cannabis prohibition was a major victory for states' rights, federalism and the 10th Amendment. It was also a victory for all Oklahomans who do not want to be ruled by unaccountable and out-of-touch bureaucrats and politicians thousands of miles away in Washington, D.C. - and even abroad - acting in defiance of our Constitution. [continues 512 words]
OKLAHOMA Attorney General Scott Pruitt's effort to sue the state of Colorado for its role in violating the drug laws of neighboring states fell short at the U.S. Supreme Court this week. That doesn't mean there isn't a problem, as even the attorney general of Colorado conceded. Pruitt's lawsuit was not based on challenging the decision of Colorado citizens to legalize marijuana sales to Colorado residents. Instead, Pruitt sought to challenge Colorado state policies that are designed to generate revenue from the interstate sale of marijuana. For example, Colorado officials don't require that marijuana buyers be legal residents of Colorado, nor does the state limit the number of transactions to deter bulk trafficking. As a result, Colorado has become a hub of interstate marijuana sales and distribution. [continues 248 words]
I was commissioned as an agent with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics in 1987 and spent more than 28 years fighting the drug issues that plague our state. My employment was a result of the "Just Say No" anti-drug initiative, which was created and championed by then first lady Nancy Reagan. I have often wondered what the world would be like now if addicts had heeded her warning. That first needle of meth seemed so harmless. It seemed innocent the first time the crack cocaine addict took a hit off the crack pipe. The heroin looked good at the moment, to flee the world's problems and get high. Let's smoke just one joint; it's just marijuana. No one can fathom the destruction headed their way. [continues 148 words]
What part of following a winning plan to fix our budget shortcomings does Gov. Mary Fallin not get? Want to balance the budget and have extra left over? Then why not follow the examples set for all to follow, Colorado, Washington state, and the 20-something other states that have legalized medical marijuana, not to mention the recreational use. Millions of sales tax dollars have been collected in the states that have done so. Why must our children's education have to suffer just because a few backward folks refuse to see the benefits of this wonderful plant that is no more a drug than aspirin, Tylenol or any other over-the-counter pain medication. [continues 69 words]
Legislation has been proposed to overhaul the drug asset forfeiture laws in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, Oklahoma laws regarding drug asset forfeiture have been so severely misrepresented that the truth of how these laws work is lost. Under Oklahoma law, a law enforcement officer can seize property only if he has an arrest warrant, search warrant, probable cause to believe the property is dangerous, or probable cause to believe that the property has been used, or will be used, in violation of Oklahoma narcotics laws. [continues 407 words]
Regarding "Oklahoma, Nebraska AGs liken Colorado to 'drug cartel' over pot" (News, Jan. 7): As a Colorado resident who helped end cannabis prohibition, I strongly disagree with Oklahoma and Nebraska's claim likening Colorado to a "drug cartel." Oklahoma and Nebraska's desire to continue caging responsible adults who choose to use the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant is dependent on Colorado perpetuating the historically discredited "Reefer Madness" scam, dependent on punishing Colorado for not punishing its citizens for using a beneficial plant with a tantrum. In reality, citizens including Oklahoma's and Nebraska's own citizens liken cannabis prohibitionists as being anti-Christian, vulgar and just plain wrong. In the end, cannabis prohibition and discrimination will be history. Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
WASHINGTON - U.S. Supreme Court justices are expected to decide in their closed door meeting on Jan. 22 whether to allow Oklahoma and Nebraska to sue Colorado over its marijuana laws. The two states claim their neighbor's licensing of growers and sellers has led their own residents to travel to Colorado to buy marijuana. That in turn has strained their own law enforcement and other resources, they claim. In a brief filed last week, Oklahoma and Nebraska compared Colorado to a drug cartel that is now exporting pot to 36 states. [continues 396 words]
Rhetoric is heating up about a proposal to change the state's civil asset forfeiture process. Lawmakers return in February to the Capitol, where the issue is expected to be debated. The leading voice for change is Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City. He has filed Senate Bill 838, which would make dramatic changes to a law that allows law enforcement to seize property and cash suspected of being used in a crime. The current process does not require a conviction. [continues 448 words]
WASHINGTON - Oklahoma and Nebraska compared Colorado to a drug cartel Wednesday and again urged the Supreme Court to let them sue their neighbor over its marijuana production and distribution system. In sharply written arguments, the two states said Colorado "has created a massive criminal enterprise whose sole purpose is to authorize and facilitate the manufacture, distribution, sale and use of marijuana." "The State of Colorado authorizes, oversees, protects and profits from a sprawling $100 million per-month marijuana growing, processing and retailing organization that exported thousands of pounds of marijuana to some 36 States in 2014," the states' new brief says. [continues 471 words]
Nebraska Also Asks the Supreme Court to Let It Sue Over the Legal Sale and Production of Weed. WASHINGTON - Oklahoma and Nebraska compared Colorado to a drug cartel Wednesday and again urged the Supreme Court to let them sue their neighbor over its marijuana production and distribution system. In sharply written arguments, the two states said Colorado "has created a massive criminal enterprise whose sole purpose is to authorize and facilitate the manufacture, distribution, sale and use of marijuana." "The State of Colorado authorizes, oversees, protects and profits from a sprawling $100-million per-month marijuana growing, processing and retailing organization that exported thousands of pounds of marijuana to some 36 States in 2014," the two states' news brief says. [continues 475 words]
FOR the second time in as many years, proponents have fallen short - far short - of gathering enough signatures to place a medical marijuana measure before Oklahoma voters. Backers say they will try again. But their repeated failure suggests this is an issue lacking meaningful support in Oklahoma, and that petition organizers are wasting their time. Last week, Green the Vote submitted petitions containing roughly 70,000 signatures seeking a public vote to legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma. The group needed 123,725 signatures to get the issue on the ballot. [continues 468 words]
Washington (AP) - Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has said that he plans to continue to press the U.S. Supreme Court for permission to sue Colorado over its marijuana laws, despite objection from President Obama's administration. Oklahoma and Nebraska asked for the court's permission a year ago to sue Colorado over aspects of its marijuana legalization plan. A spokesman for Pruitt said that written arguments will be filed next month. Oklahoma and Nebraska say that Colorado laws allowing the manufacture, possession and distribution of marijuana violate the federal Controlled Substances Act and have led to more illegal drugs crossing state lines. [continues 148 words]
Marijuana Is the No. 1 Drug Found in Drivers Who Tested Positive for Drugs in Oklahoma, According to the Osbi As more states legalize marijuana for recreational use, concern rises about the risk of people getting behind the wheel while high. While many supporters point to the potential positive impact on economics that legalization in Oklahoma could hold, law enforcement officers who are faced with the deadly outcomes of driving while under the influence of marijuana or other drugs during their work point to the risks. [continues 1081 words]
ADVOCATES for legalizing recreational marijuana argue that shift shouldn't upset people, claiming the drug's use differs little from alcohol consumption. A new report from Colorado suggests that's only true if people are fine with drunk driving and public intoxication of school children. That report, by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, demonstrates that legalized marijuana's impact in Colorado is not benign. The report examines a wide range of statistics over several years that marijuana became less regulated. In 2006, Colorado legalized "medical" marijuana use. Greater commercialization was unleashed in 2009. And since 2013, full-blown recreational use has been legal. [continues 504 words]
Legislators heard opposing arguments at opposite ends of the Turner Turnpike on Tuesday as two Republican state senators waged dueling public hearings on the state's civil asset forfeiture law. At the state Capitol in Oklahoma City, witnesses assembled by Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City, testified to a forfeiture process rife with real and potential problems that encourage the seizure of private assets by law enforcement. At the Tulsa Police Academy in north Tulsa, a roomful of law officers and prosecutors voiced outrage at that notion and said forfeiture is one of the most important weapons in the war against drugs. [continues 705 words]
Efforts to Legalize Medical Marijuana Move Ahead in State. OKLAHOMA CITY - Supporters of an effort to legalize medical marijuana hope to begin gathering signatures in early September. Last week, members of Green the Vote filed paperwork with the Oklahoma Secretary of State's office indicating their intent. Following a protest period and a review of the ballot title, they hope to hit the streets, Isaac Caviness, president of Green the Vote, said Thursday. He said the organization is not anticipating a challenge to the petition. [continues 365 words]
WASHINGTON - Novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," Don Winslow was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Mexico's top drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has twice escaped from a maximum-security prison. Guzman reportedly escaped through a five-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. [continues 647 words]
WASHINGTON - Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a 5-foottall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. Fourteen years ago, Guzman escaped from another "maximum security" prison simply by hiding in a laundry cart. [continues 508 words]
Senator Denies Claims That Plan to Change Law Is Grab for Money A state senator has upset law enforcement officers across the state by saying the state's drug money forfeiture law needs to be changed to protect the innocent. "Completely asinine," said the most vocal critic, Canadian County Sheriff Randall Edwards. At issue is the law as written allows police - in some instances - to seize and keep cash found during traffic stops even when no drugs were discovered and no criminal charges were filed. [continues 709 words]
Regarding "Momentum building for justice reform" (Point of View, May 9): J.C. Watts recommends "shortening prison sentences for nonviolent offenders - or diverting people from prison altogether" to reduce prison costs. What he doesn't say: Nonviolent offenders are drug users supporting their addiction selling drugs to other users. Oklahoma isn't the place to rethink 100 years of failed attempts to control narcotics and "dangerous drugs" by criminal laws prohibiting possession or sale of drugs. It started with the federal Harrison Act (opium, 1912), leading every state to prosecute drug users/sellers since the 1930s. Former Congressman Watts and his task force on federal corrections reform need to determine whether criminal justice systems are suitable for folks addicted to drugs. They may discover drug addictions increased during the "war on drugs." Invest taxpayer money in treatment programs. That's much cheaper than doubling Oklahoma's prison population. Transfer narcotic enforcement officers to street patrols. Let them arrest real criminals. Richard Janopaul Oklahoma City [end]
I agree almost completely with David Read (Your Views, May 8): Drugs are not the "harmless recreation" that is the viewpoint of liberals and, unfortunately, a lot of conservatives. Drugs destroy lives. Do I need to point further than Skyla Whitaker and her friend? Walking on a familiar country road and shot by a recreational drug user? What will it take to wake this country up? More people need to realize that the purpose of the law is to protect society, not to let criminals off time and time again in order to satisfy some sociological sense of guilt. The law has many safeguards to protect people who are wrongly accused, but if someone is guilty, they need to be locked up, period. If the prisons are overcrowded, more prisons need to be built. These kind of people aren't harmless. Users and dealers are a malignant cancer and need to be treated as such. Arrell D. Martindale Oklahoma City [end]
Regarding "Law an example of why more reform is needed" (Our Views, May 3): When it comes to preventing drug use, mass incarceration is a cure worse than the disease. The drug war is not the promoter of family values some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole does too. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in criminal behavior. Prisons transmit violent habits rather than reduce them. Nonviolent drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal job prospects because of criminal records. [continues 82 words]
We applaud Gov. Mary Fallin's decision to sign legislation allowing a medical pilot program that uses a nonintoxicating derivative of marijuana - medicinal cannabis oil or CBD - to help children with seizure disorders. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, was carefully written to allow for tightly controlled investigational medical studies that can be conducted in a safe, responsible and scientific manner. "It is not marijuana, and it is not anything that can make you high," Fallin said. "This law has been narrowly crafted to support highly supervised medical trials for children with debilitating seizures." [continues 125 words]
OKLAHOMA'S three-strikes law for drug felony convictions, on the books since 1989, underscores the importance of policymakers occasionally reviewing state statutes to determine whether there's a better way to handle crime and punishment. The answer, generally, is yes. As Jennifer Palmer reported in today's Oklahoman, 54 state prison inmates are serving sentences of life without parole for drug violations. They were sentenced under the three-strikes law, which mandates a life sentence when two convictions for any drug felony are followed by a drug-trafficking conviction. [continues 529 words]
With State Prisons Over Capacity, Some Are Calling for Reversal of Harsh Law Kevin Ott drew his first strike when he was arrested for a small bag of methamphetamine in his pocket in 1993. A year later, authorities caught the self-described country boy from Okemah with marijuana plants growing at his home. That strike got him 15 months in prison. Still in his early 30's, Ott took strike three in 1996 when police found 3 1/2 ounces of meth in his home, enough for prosecutors to charge him with trafficking. His punishment: life without parole. [continues 3439 words]
While the picture is still blurry, legal marijuana could be coming to Indian country in Oklahoma. Such a possibility may seem far-fetched, but recent policy pronouncements by the U.S. Department of Justice are making the once unthinkable a real possibility. While marijuana is still illegal in all of its forms in Oklahoma, more than 20 states have legalized it for either medical or recreational use. Nonetheless, it is still illegal in all states under federal law to manufacture, distribute or dispense marijuana. [continues 514 words]
Regarding "Colorado defends pot laws against Oklahoma, Nebraska legal attack" (News, March 28): Aaron Cooper, a spokesman for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has it backward in claiming that Colorado's legalization of cannabis has negatively impacted surrounding states like Oklahoma and Nebraska. Rather, cannabis prohibition is responsible for negatively impacting Oklahoma, Nebraska and the entire country. Further, they're unable to grasp what is taking place. Colorado government isn't promoting commercialized cannabis, but rather regulating the God-given plant. Oklahoma and Nebraska leaders fail to realize what they're actually doing is forcing the black market to regulate cannabis instead. While Oklahoma and Nebraska leaders may wish to force the black market to continue regulating cannabis, Colorado voters decided to force government to do the inevitable job instead. Recent polls indicate continued growing support for that decision. Polls also indicate Oklahoma and Nebraska citizens wish to end cannabis prohibition. Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
THE debate over potential medical use of marijuana has generated legislative proposals this year that embody the best, and worst, of the political system. House Bill 2154, by Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, would allow Oklahoma children to participate in clinical trials for cannabidiol. That drug, otherwise referred to as CBD, is extracted from marijuana stalks and does not contain the chemical that creates marijuana's narcotic affect. There is reason to believe the drug could treat people who suffer seizures due to epilepsy. Echols said his own niece is among the children who suffer seizures that could be reduced through CBD use. [continues 432 words]
House OKs Limited Use We applaud the state House for voting 99-2 last week to legalize use of an active marijuana ingredient for the treatment of severe epileptic seizures in children. Earlier this year, Gov. Mary Fallin urged the state to legalize nonintoxicating medicinal cannabis oil - CBD - on a supervised basis for children suffering from severe seizure disorders. While CBD is derived from cannabis, Fallin has opposed any broader legalization of marijuana. We think that's a pretty good read of where the people of Oklahoma stand on the issue too. [continues 111 words]
Inside Oklahoma
