• SQ 820 will generate millions of dollars in new state funding and government revenue.
• State Question 820 proposes a 15% sales tax on marijuana to fund critical programs.
• It will increase revenue for schools, healthcare, public safety, and other vital priorities for Oklahomans.
• SQ 820 offers common sense criminal justice reform, like expungement.
• SQ 820 will create jobs and generate economic development.
• SQ 820 protects public health and safety.
• The current law can ruin lives based on one mistake.
• SQ 820 will protect and benefit local Oklahoma businesses.
• The current approach of prohibition wastes precious public resources.
• Marijuana legalization is working in other states.

Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, website, accessed January 10, 2023.

• "What it will do is legalize recreational marijuana in Oklahoma, and it's going to provide a 15% tax on that marijuana which is going to provide funds for our schools, health care, or local governments." 
• "It also allows for a process for those who have been convicted of minor marijuana issues in the past to have that cleaned up the record."  

Michelle Tilley, State Question 820 Campaign Director; interview with Fox 25,  Three states reject recreational marijuana: Will Oklahoma pass SQ 820 in March?, Katie Arata; November 9, 2022.

“Part of the motivation to legalize cannabis is because too many lives have been ruined (through incarceration), and that’s something voters can understand. I think it’s going to be important for the campaign in Oklahoma to educate voters about how they are trying to create a responsible system of regulations and give the state more control over the sale and production of cannabis that is already happening, then voters become more comfortable with it.”

Jared Moffat, State Campaigns Manager, Marijuana Policy Project; The Oklahoman,  Oklahoma’s next big election will ask voters to legalize recreational marijuana; Ben Felder; November 27, 2022.

"We currently have partial legalization in Oklahoma. Theoretically, there are would-be “patients” who could medically benefit from cannabis but who do not want to be on government registries and therefore risk some level of penalty for possessing or consuming cannabis. Those from outside Oklahoma that visit the state and possess cannabis also risk a penalty for possessing and consuming it. Legalizing adult-use would expand access to these groups of adults of legal age."

Mason Pain, To legalize or not to legalize? That is State Question 820.Commentary, Oklahoma Gazette; January 25, 2023.

“You've got about roughly 400,000 card holders and thousands of businesses ...so everyone is fighting for their place in the market.  But when you go to a true recreational adult-use market, you’ve got some cannabis tourism going on from surrounding states. Oklahoma has some of the lowest prices of cannabis in America, so folks who want to consume cannabis but don't want to spend a lot of money on it are able to come and experience that."

Arshad Lasi, CEO of The Nirvana Group; Oklahoma's next big election will ask voters to legalize recreational marijuana; Ben Felder, Oklahoman, November 27, 2022.

• It’s NOT OK to smoke Marijuana around children, but this state question expressly changes the threshold for child endangerment by specifically permitting smoking of marijuana around children.
  

• SQ 820 hampers single parents trying to protect their children. The fine print on the state question prohibits courts from considering abuse of marijuana in child custody and visitation cases.

• SQ 820 will lead to more infants and toddlers overdosing. Oklahoma already averages reporting one marijuana overdose a day for children under five years old. Other states have seen these numbers triple when adding recreational. 

• Child overdoses will be more severe. SQ 820 does NOT limit on THC content. This puts our kids at even more risk. According to medical doctors, when children ingest high THC edibles that look like candy, cookies, or chips they are at risk for seizures or even coma.
  

• SQ 820 will encourage more violence. We have already had execution style killings in Oklahoma related to the marijuana black market. Law enforcement agrees passage of SQ 820 will provide more cover for illegal activity.  
  

• SQ 820 fails to address the very real concerns of foreign ownership of our land, as well as excessive water and electricity usage that strains our infrastructure. 

Protect Our Kids No 820, website, accessed February 16, 2023.

• Oklahoma is being overrun by marijuana. Our state has more licensed marijuana dispensaries than Colorado and California combined, according to the L.A. Times.
• SQ 820 lowers the threshold for child endangerment. The ballot measure expressly removes the smoking or use of marijuana around children as a cause of child endangerment AND prohibits courts from considering marijuana use in child custody cases.
• SQ 820 does not address foreign ownership of land.  Foreign nationals, including Chinese, Mexicans and Russians, are purchasing Oklahoma farm land illegally, bringing in labor and sex trafficking.
• Our rural farmers and communities are suffering.  Marijuana grow facilities have emerged by the thousands, placing a significant strain on rural Oklahoma's utility providers, water use and causing uncertainty with neighboring agricultural operations.
• We don't want more organized crime coming to our state.  According to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, Oklahoma is the leading source of illegal marijuana in the U.S.
• SQ 820 does not limit the THC level that can be sold.
• Oklahoma has more dispensary licenses than gas stations (according to eia.gov).

Oklahoma Faith Leaders, website, accessed February 15, 2023.

"Oklahoma’s Poison Control Center says they’ve also seen a sharp increase in pediatric marijuana exposures since the state’s passage of medical marijuana in 2018."

The Associated Press via Nexstar Media Wire and Kaylee Douglas/KFOR, Study: More kids sickened by edibles at home as legal pot grows.

Various arguments against State Question 820 from Protect Our Kids No 820 Facebook page 

"We, the messengers to the 2022 Annual Meeting of Oklahoma Baptists, meeting at First Baptist Church, Mustang, Oklahoma, November 14-15, 2022, are alarmed at the rapid advance and acceptance of marijuana in our state. We believe that states should protect their people from the proliferation of recreational marijuana. Legalizing addictive drugs for recreational use leaves neighborhoods, families, and schools vulnerable for exploitation. We pray that Oklahoma will maintain legal barriers between these substances and the communities they devastate, and that the church will work with Christ-centered ministries to reach people who are impacted by addiction."

Oklahoma Baptists Annual Meeting, Resolution #5, November 15, 2022.

"Marijuana is falling into the hands of kids at an alarming rate. In our little small school, kids are doing that every day or being caught doing that every day. There are no amount of tax dollars’ worth the dangers that marijuana poses to our culture."

Garry McDevitt, Pastor, First Baptist Church in Prue, OK;  SOME CONCERNED ABOUT STATE QUESTION 820 AS OTHERS SUPPORT BALLOT MEASURE, News on 6, Kaitlyn Deggs, January 22, 2023.

Committee formed to SUPPORT Oklahoma State Question 820:

Yes ON 820-OKLAHOMANS FOR SENSIBLE MARIJUANA LAWS

Selected Contributions TO  Yes on 820 - Oklahomans For Sensible Marijuana Laws include:

• The Just Trust for Action
• New Approach Advocacy Fund
• American Civil Liberties Union
• Stacy Schusterman
• Drug Policy Action
• United Food & Commercial Workers Intl. Union
• M. D. Nugg
• Peter Black.

• The Oklahoma Marijuana Legalization Initiative, Oklahoma State Question 820, is on the ballot in Oklahoma as an initiated state statute on March 7, 2023. The Protect Our Kids No 820 PAC was formed on January 31, 2023 in opposition to this ballot measure.  Oklahoma Baptist General Convention and Governor Kevin Stitt have voiced arguments against the statute.

• The measure allows for possession of a maximum 1 ounce (28 grams) of cannabis flower and 8 grams of concentrate. Residents would be able to grow cannabis at home and receive cultivation assistance from others.
  
• Employers would still have the ability to restrict employee conduct, including cannabis use; drug testing likely would remain in place for employment screening, especially for safety-sensitive jobs.
  
• Landlords could still restrict cannabis use by tenants, and cannabis could still be prohibited on school property. Alcohol could not be sold or provided anywhere marijuana is sold.

Anna Codutti, Oklahoma to vote on recreational marijuana: How would State Question 820 work?   Tulsa World, February 8, 2023.

"SQ820 would also bring new opportunities to industry participants. Current cannabis margins are thin, with a massive supply-and-demand imbalance that continuously forces out small businesses. Full legalization allows business owners to create new revenue streams, as expanding access means expanding customer bases. For some, passing SQ820 would be like throwing a life raft to businesses currently on life support. While it’s true that companies would have to apply and pay to hold an additional adult-use license, a true medical market could also emerge while every owner would be able to cast a wider net, carving out niches and creating space for themselves. Opportunities could be created overnight that do not currently exist in the existing framework."

Mason Pain, To legalize or not to legalize? That is State Question 820.  Oklahoma Gazette, January 25, 2023.

Some potential short-term adverse effects are paranoia and psychosis, impaired short-term memory, impaired motor coordination and altered judgment.  Potential long-term effects include altered brain development, poor educational outcome, cognitive impairment, diminished life satisfaction and ultimate achievement, addiction, symptoms of chronic bronchitis and increased risk of chronic psychosis disorders.

Concerned Women for America Marijuana White Paper, Losing Wager: "Big Marijuana's" Legalization Crusade Endangers Our Future, website, accessed February 19, 2023.

"New research has linked production of the once-verboten plant to a host of issues ranging from water theft and degradation of public lands to wildlife deaths and potential ozone effects."

Jodi Helmer, The Environmental Downside of Cannabis Cultivation, JSTOR Daily, June 18, 2019.

Our AMA:

• believes that cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a serious public health concern
  
• believes that the sale of cannabis for adult use should not be legalized (with adult defined for these purposes as age 21 and older)
  
• discourages cannabis use, especially by persons vulnerable to the drug's effects and in high-risk populations such as youth, pregnant women, and women who are breastfeeding

American Medical Association, Policy on Cannabis Legalization for Adult Use (full policy found at link), website, accessed February 19, 2023.