2 minute read
COMMENTARY State Question 820
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Mason Pain | Photo provided.
transforms felonies into civil infractions and that alone transforms peoples’ lives, returning to people their dignity.
SQ820 would also bring new opportunities to industry participants. Current cannabis margins are thin, with a massive supplyand-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.
Also, cannabis tourism is projected to be a 17 billion dollar industry moving forward. Oklahoma has a chance — if it so chooses — to become a cannabis destination before federal legalization opens the floodgates.
Legalization could create thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly while generating state and municipal tax revenues for our local communities. Marijuana Policy Project data shows aggregate tax revenues from adult-use cannabis sales hit 3.7 billion last year.
The fifth most valuable cash crop in the country, capitalizing on trends during boom times has historically helped agricultural states like ours by infusing rural communities with cash.
To recap, we can help a) eliminate the black market b) provide a lifeline to struggling small business owners c) expand our state’s agricultural and tourism opportunities, and d) restore civic statuses and rights to thousands of Oklahomans.
SQ820 would provide an immediate social and economic impact that we can continue to build upon through legislative engagement.
In 2018, Oklahoma overwhelmingly voted for a medical cannabis program. In November, only two of the five states with legalization measures on the ballot voted to approve them.
Legalization is about safe access, economic development, freedom, justice and providing opportunities that Oklahomans otherwise wouldn’t have been afforded. We, as voters, now get to decide whether we’ll deliver it.
