Oklahoma Recreational Marijuana Initiative Fails to Garner Enough Signatures for Ballot

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) – An initiative petition that would have asked voters whether recreational marijuana should be legalized has failed to garner enough signatures to make a ballot.

The petition drive for State Question 797 gathered 102,814 signatures, according to Oklahoma Secretary of State James Williamson. The drive was required to gather 123,725 signatures to make the ballot, which equates to 15 percent of the total number of ballots cast in the 2014 gubernatorial election.

If approved by voters, the initiative would have made it legal for all individuals over 21 to consume and posses limited amounts of marijuana. The signature total must now be reviewed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. At the end of July, the group Green the Vote announced it had reached the required number of signatures needed to make the ballot. Just days later, members from the group stated that false numbers had been given out. The group’s leaders say they decided to inflate the numbers in an effort to gain momentum for the cause.

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