Oklahoma Activists Withdraw 2026 Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative

Oklahoma activists have withdrawn a marijuana legalization initiative that
they’d hoped to place on the state’s 2026 ballot.

After a short but aggressive signature push to secure ballot placement,
Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA) ultimately did not turn
in its petitions by the deadline, according to the secretary of state’s
office.

This is a critical setback for advocates, who had partnered with retailers
across the state—from existing medical cannabis dispensaries to tattoo
parlors—to carry the petitions. More than 500 locations lent their support
by serving as signing locations.

ORCA needed to turn in 172,993 valid signatures by Monday, and while the
campaign appeared optimistic about its progress, the secretary of state’s
office has confirmed it didn’t make the cut.

“WITHDRAWN BY PROPONENTS OF RECORD,” the office’s website says. “November
3, 2025; No petition pamphlets were filed on behalf of IP449; IP449 is no
longer active with the Secretary of State office.”

While the campaign wasn’t actively verifying signatures it collected due to
the decentralized and largely volunteer nature of the effort, ORCA founder
Jed Green, who could not be reached for comment on Monday or Tuesday, told
Marijuana Moment last month that the team had “some pretty big piles” of
signed petitions on hand.

The campaign was still wrangling hundreds of signed petitions through
Monday afternoon.

The turnaround to get the signatures delivered was tight, as the campaign
only started collecting them in August, giving advocates just about three
months to get the job done.

There were challenges unique to this election cycle, as earlier this year
Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) gave final approval to legislation that some advocates
worry will inhibit future citizen-led policy changes, including cannabis
reform.

The law puts additional requirements on initiative “gist” language that
voters see on the ballot and also revise policies around signature
gathering to make it so petitioners could only submit signatures from up to
11.5 percent of registered voters in a single county for statutory
proposals and 20.8 percent for constitutional measures. The law is
currently being litigated for reasons unrelated to the specific cannabis
proposal.

Green previously said that one of the key differences between the initiative
his organization pushed this year and a previous one that failed at the
ballot in 2023 is that it accounted for concerns about licensing rules.
Many have criticized the rollout of the state’s medical marijuana law,
which led to a dramatic proliferation of dispensaries, and Green said the
failed adult-use measure effectively duplicated that licensing scheme.

*Here’s what ORCA’s latest marijuana legalization initiative would have
accomplished:*

- It would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to eight
ounces of cannabis for personal use. They could also grow up to 12 plants
and possess what’s harvested, and they would be able to have up to one
ounce of cannabis concentrates.
- The proposed constitutional amendment would also provide that Oklahoma
banks would not be penalized simply for servicing state-licensed cannabis
businesses.
- Further, the initiative includes protections to make it so any adults
would be shielded from being penalized with respect to “healthcare,
housing, employment, public assistance, public benefit, parental right,
educational opportunity, extracurricular activity” and also “licensure or
licensed activity” such as firearm ownership and driving rights due to any
legal cannabis activity.
- As part of those protections, the presence of THC metabolites in a
person’s system could not be used as evidence of impairment.
- Local governments would not be permitted to impose bans on the
marijuana home cultivation, and any regulations they set on the activity
could not be “unduly burdensome.” Additionally, no public ordinances on
public smoking for marijuana could be more restrictive than what’s
currently in place for tobacco.
- Existing medical cannabis dispensaries, as well as any new retail
licensees, would be able to start selling to adult consumers starting 60
days after the measure’s enactment. After 180 days, they could start
delivering cannabis products to adults.
- The same state departments that oversee the current medical cannabis
program would be responsible for regulate the adult-use market.
- A 10 percent excise tax would be imposed on adult-use marijuana
products, and the initiative stipulates that the legislature would be
empowered to decrease that tax rate but not raise it.
- Revenue from those tax dollars would go toward the state general fund
(40 percent), as well as county governments (30 percent) and municipal
governments (30 percent) where retail sales occurred. For unincorporated
jurisdictions, revenue would be split evenly, with 5o percent for the
general fund and 50 percent for the counties.
- Sixty days after the measure’s enactment, the tax rate on marijuana
for registered cannabis patients would be eliminated.
- It also states that state-licensed marijuana businesses couldn’t be
prevented from engaging in interstate commerce if there’s a change in
federal law, or a court action, permitting such activity. If that happens,
the legislature would be authorized to place up to a 3 percent wholesale
tax on cannabis exported beyond state lines.

Meanwhile, amid the signature gathering process, law enforcement leaders
with the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs and Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics
and Dangerous Drugs had been raising concerns about cannabis.


*— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps,
charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.*


*Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on
Patreon to get access. —*

Also in Oklahoma, lawmakers in March advanced a bill aimed at protecting
gun rights of state-registered medical marijuana patients, although federal
law still bars cannabis users from owning firearms regardless of their
patient status.

Another state bill filed in January by a GOP legislator would criminalize
the use of medical cannabis during pregnancy.

*Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.*

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Initiative appeared first on Marijuana Moment.