Cannabis

[Bunty]

Finally, Senator Yen's Bill is going to go to committee next Monday Feb. 26th at 2 pm, RM. 535! We need phone calls if you cannot be there. Here is all the committee members. Call them and ask them to Vote NO on SB 1120! Senator Yen's Bill will take away all but four conditions to use cannabis for! And give regulation over to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics! Here is a link to read it... http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf...1120%20INT.PDF

________________________________________
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
________________________________________

Senator Ervin Yen - Chair-(405) 521-5543
Senator Rob Standridge - Vice Chair-(405) 521-5535
Senator Kim David-(405) 521-5590
Senator Kay Floyd-(405) 521-5610
Senator A J Griffin-(405) 521-5628
Senator Allison Ikley-Freeman-(405) 521-5600
Senator Darcy Jech-(405) 521-5545
Senator Greg McCortney-(405) 521-5541
Senator Adam Pugh-(405) 521-5622
Senator Dave Rader-(405) 521-5620
Senator Joseph Silk-(405)-521-5614
Senator Frank Simpson-(405) 521-5607

[pw405]

Finally, Senator Yen's Bill is going to go to committee next Monday Feb. 26th at 2 pm, RM. 535! We need phone calls if you cannot be there. Here is all the committee members. Call them and ask them to Vote NO on SB 1120! Senator Yen's Bill will take away all but four conditions to use cannabis for! And give regulation over to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics! Here is a link to read it... http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf...1120%20INT.PDF

________________________________________
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
________________________________________

Senator Ervin Yen - Chair-(405) 521-5543
Senator Rob Standridge - Vice Chair-(405) 521-5535
Senator Kim David-(405) 521-5590
Senator Kay Floyd-(405) 521-5610
Senator A J Griffin-(405) 521-5628
Senator Allison Ikley-Freeman-(405) 521-5600
Senator Darcy Jech-(405) 521-5545
Senator Greg McCortney-(405) 521-5541
Senator Adam Pugh-(405) 521-5622
Senator Dave Rader-(405) 521-5620
Senator Joseph Silk-(405)-521-5614
Senator Frank Simpson-(405) 521-5607

This must not make it out of committee!!! What a joke, can you even make a new law in reaction to a law that doesn't exist?

[jerrywall]

Out of curiosity what aspects of this bill do folks have a problem with, if you're really about medical marijuana and not just back doorring recreational ni didn't examine it in detail but it really just seems to outline the implementation, something that will need to happen at some point.

*Edit. The conditions seem restrictive. Although non THC CBD oil treats my epilepsy fine. Having it regulated by an agency though needs to happen if it's truly for medicinal purposes.

[Bunty]

Out of curiosity what aspects of this bill do folks have a problem with, if you're really about medical marijuana and not just back doorring recreational ni didn't examine it in detail but it really just seems to outline the implementation, something that will need to happen at some point.

*Edit. The conditions seem restrictive. Although non THC CBD oil treats my epilepsy fine. Having it regulated by an agency though needs to happen if it's truly for medicinal purposes.

And it's too vague. From bill: "Serious condition means: a. having a severe debilitating or life threatening condition." Does this mean epilepsy? Crohn’s Disease? A few other specific conditions are named after that, though. A number of Oklahomans would still be having to leave the state.

Mr. Yen, or some other legislator, should have come out with this bill in 2016 after the first two medical marijuana petition had failed. Then it would have had a better chance of passing with enough time having made changes to it, if needed by now. But we simply live in a badly run state. If SB1120 makes it out of committee, hopefully it gets changed to be less restrictive.

[Bunty]

SB1120 has unfortunately passed through the Health and Human Services committee 6-5. Hopefully, the close vote is a good indicator that SB1120 won't make it all the way. For now, a good time to let your State Senator know he or she should vote no.

During the hearing for SB1120, interesting that Sen. Yen. revealed that attorneys have told him his bill may or may not preempt SQ788, if both passed.

http://www.soonerpolitics.org/editor...is-legislation

[Laramie]

Go ahead and legalize the sh+it and be willing to take on the adversities of the Devil's smoke; the state needs to harvest the economic tax benefits the Okie bootleggers are getting--tax free income.

Just imagine the business you pull from Texas; especially if you sold on tribal lands like the area near WINSTAR. Get 'em high & gambling all in one setting; stop beating around the bush. My grandmother smoked marijuana, it did wonders for her lumbago.


Oklahoma needs to quit half-stepping and follow Colorado's lead--go for THE GREEN GOLD.

[Bunty]

Go ahead and legalize the sh+it and be willing to take on the adversities of the Devil's smoke; the state needs to harvest the economic tax benefits the bootleggers are getting. Just imagine the business you pull from Texas; especially if you sold on tribal lands like the area near WINSTAR. Get 'em high & gambling all in one setting; stop beating around the bush.


Oklahoma needs to quit half-stepping and follow Colorado's lead--go for THE GREEN GOLD.

LOL, Dream on. Polling shows only 37% of Oklahomans approve of legalizing rec marijuana. At least, that is some improvement where a previous poll had it a 31%.

[bchris02]

LOL, Dream on. Polling shows only 37% of Oklahomans approve of legalizing rec marijuana. At least, that is some improvement where a previous poll had it a 31%.

Yeah. Legalizing it would make baby Jesus cry.

[Laramie]

Yeah. Legalizing it would make baby Jesus cry.

Who knows, may have been some marijuana mixed in that hay manger.

[Bunty]

Sen. Yen was asked why the free market wouldn't be allowed. Instead, the state would set the price for medical marijuana. Yen replied that's how New York State does it. Since when did Republican legislators decide they need to govern like the liberal state of New Your does?

Other restrictions points in SB1120:

-Puts dispense/retail at pharmacies and only a registered pharmacy can dispense.
-$2,000,000 bond required to grow/dispense/process.
-Only a "pharmacy" can grow.
-Applicant must be "approved" by a board to grow or dispense with very subjective conditions..one condition for approval is "good character..."
-ANY license can be pulled at ANY time by the commissioner of health.
-Smoked medical marijuana not allowed.

[pw405]

Sen. Yen was asked why the free market wouldn't be allowed. Instead, the state would set the price for medical marijuana. Yen replied that's how New York State does it. Since when did Republican legislators decide they need to govern like the liberal state of New Your does?

Other restrictions points in SB1120:

-Puts dispense/retail at pharmacies and only a registered pharmacy can dispense.
-$2,000,000 bond required to grow/dispense/process.
-Only a "pharmacy" can grow.
-Applicant must be "approved" by a board to grow or dispense with very subjective conditions..one condition for approval is "good character..."
-ANY license can be pulled at ANY time by the commissioner of health.
-Smoked medical marijuana not allowed.

This is insane!! I'm going to call & email my senator tomorrow to voice opposition to this!

[TheTravellers]

This is insane!! I'm going to call & email my senator tomorrow to voice opposition to this!

I was going to do the very same thing, but found out my senator is Yen, dammit (still going to email him and tell him how sh*tty his bill is). I haven't had a need to get in touch with a senator since we moved, and we're now apparently in his district. Oh well, guess I know who I'm going to vote against next election.

[bchris02]

I was going to do the very same thing, but found out my senator is Yen, dammit (still going to email him and tell him how sh*tty his bill is). I haven't had a need to get in touch with a senator since we moved, and we're now apparently in his district. Oh well, guess I know who I'm going to vote against next election.

Not that it will matter since Oklahoma is pretty much a defacto theocracy. It's absolutely mindblowing given where public opinion is on this at the current time and also with all the problems the state is dealing with, there is so much effort to stopping this before the people have even had a chance to vote on it. And why? Because fundamentalists don't like it? Given that this is Oklahoma though, I am not surprised at all. It's really difficult to not have a defeatist attitude around here.

[jerrywall]

Not everything is about religion.

[d-usa]

I was going to do the very same thing, but found out my senator is Yen, dammit (still going to email him and tell him how sh*tty his bill is). I haven't had a need to get in touch with a senator since we moved, and we're now apparently in his district. Oh well, guess I know who I'm going to vote against next election.

I think he will be term limited?

[bchris02]

Not everything is about religion.

Well sure, the private prison industry and Big Pharma also plays a role. However, religion and misinformation thanks to decades of anti-MJ propaganda is the primary reason there is such an effort to kill SQ 788 before it even passes. Just look at the people who are most vocal against MJ (be it medical or recreational) and it proves my point. Too many vocal people see medical MJ as a mask or a stepping stone to recreational. The thing is even if that is true, so what? Other states are legalizing recreational and its expected to snowball over the next several years. Why does Oklahoma always have to be 30 years behind the rest of the country?

[jerrywall]

I've never encountered much in regards to religion about marijuana. I agree there is misinformation. It doesn't help that (due to it's prohibition) it's been a serious source of revenue for gangs and organized crime, so they are linked in many people's mind.

Sometimes the reasons something is outlawed is something stupidly simple. For example, supposedly tattoos were outlawed after a senator's daughter got a tattoo at the fair. Oklahoma drags on Alcohol largely because of being admitted as a state on the condition we would be a dry state. We've only recently cross the point, I think, where the majority of voters are people who didn't grow up in a dry state.

[bchris02]

I've never encountered much in regards to religion about marijuana. I agree there is misinformation. It doesn't help that (due to it's prohibition) it's been a serious source of revenue for gangs and organized crime, so they are linked in many people's mind.

Growing up Independent Baptist, a distinction was never made between marijuana and harder drugs like heroin and meth. It was always preached against as a gateway drug and that Christians should oppose medical marijuana because it's a gateway for recreational (which would be a detriment to the moral fabric of society). The thought was that if there really was medicinal value a pill could be made and it wouldn't have to be smoked, hence where the part of SB1120 that bans smoking it comes from. Another factor is that cannabis has an image problem. Most people, especially reactionary social conservatives immediately think about stoner culture or the 1960s hippie counterculture movement, both being the antithesis of a good Christian society. This is actually a part of the pro-medial MJ movement here in Oklahoma I have personally been concerned about. Playing into stoner culture stereotypes isn't going to win support in a reactionary, highly religious state like Oklahoma.

Basically, the line of thinking is that drugs are drugs and drugs are sin and destroy lives and should be illegal. I actually had this viewpoint until recent years. As I've become less religious, I've really changed my position on a lot of issues, this being one of them.

Sometimes the reasons something is outlawed is something stupidly simple. For example, supposedly tattoos were outlawed after a senator's daughter got a tattoo at the fair. Oklahoma drags on Alcohol largely because of being admitted as a state on the condition we would be a dry state. We've only recently cross the point, I think, where the majority of voters are people who didn't grow up in a dry state.

That's interesting about the tattoos. It goes to show that when you have a small one-party state with a strong good ole' boy network, it's real easy to get stupid, draconian laws passed but it's very difficult to actually repeal them.

[pw405]

BAaahhhahaha alright, who did it??!

[pw405]

Not that it will matter since Oklahoma is pretty much a defacto theocracy. It's absolutely mindblowing given where public opinion is on this at the current time and also with all the problems the state is dealing with, there is so much effort to stopping this before the people have even had a chance to vote on it. And why? Because fundamentalists don't like it? Given that this is Oklahoma though, I am not surprised at all. It's really difficult to not have a defeatist attitude around here.

I should note that Yen's opponent, Carri Hicks, appears to be at least be somewhat supportive of SQ788, or at least anti-SB1120. She's a highly educated teacher who is fed up and decided to run for Senate! She's got my vote.



FYI in case anybody wasn't sure if you live in district 40, this is the map. (Surprisingly not as Gerrymander'd as I thought)

[jerrywall]

I have to say, considering who he kept out of office I'm willing to give Yen a little benefit of a doubt.

[pw405]

I have to say, considering who he kept out of office I'm willing to give Yen a little benefit of a doubt.

Which opponent were you referring to?

[bchris02]

Which opponent were you referring to?

Steve Kern, Sally Kern's husband. I was about to mention this when I saw that is who he defeated.

[pw405]

Steve Kern, Sally Kern's husband. I was about to mention this when I saw that is who he defeated.

Ahh!! Yes, very thankful for that.

Still, Yen's position on SQ788 is idiotic, and he shouldn't even be wasting resources trying to fight a new law that does not yet exist. That's what fundamentally irks me about SB1120. There are SO many problems at the state level right now. Pick one and attack that with all your energy. Yen has the ability to focus on making our state better, but instead he chooses a heavy-handed strategy to gut a bill that hasn't been voted on yet.

Now.. let's say SQ788 passes and as a result crime skyrockets, unemployment surges, rapes and murders are occurring faster than police can respond, and children start murdering their parents for fun (new Tide-pod challenge). THEN I could see, and likely support, an approach like SB1120.

We already have decades of this heavy-handed approach to marijuana enforcement and it simply doesn't work. The unregulated & un-taxed black market provides the supply. The tax payer gets handed the bill.

In the interest of being fair, I do agree with Yen that medicine isn't smoked. Make that a law... guess what happens? Oklahomans smoke illegal marijuana. Many patients who use cannabis medically will likely vape or eat the cannabis anyways.

[jerrywall]

Just to clarify, I disagree with Yen on this bill. I just meant as a legislator in general.