Oklahoma measure to legalize recreational marijuana headed for defeat

March 7 (Reuters) – A poll measure to legalize leisure use of marijuana for adults in Oklahoma and set up an excise tax on hashish gross sales within the state appeared headed for a convincing defeat on the polls on Tuesday, based on state election returns.

With the overwhelming majority of precincts reporting, simply over 62% of voters had forged ballots in opposition to the leisure pot legalization measure generally known as Query 820, in contrast with almost 38% who supported it, the state’s unofficial outcomes confirmed.

The vote got here almost 5 years after Oklahoma voters authorized legalizing hashish for medical functions.

The measure would have made it authorized for adults 21 and older to buy and possess as much as an oz. of marijuana, and to develop as many as six mature hashish crops for private use.

It additionally would have positioned a 15% tax on gross sales of all leisure marijuana merchandise, with revenues divvied up between municipalities and the state’s basic fund, public schooling grants and substance abuse applications.

The present state medical marijuana authority would have been tasked with regulating and licensing business hashish companies.

As well as, people already convicted of low-level marijuana offenses that the measure proposed to make authorized might have sought re-sentencing or have their data expunged.

As of this yr, 21 different U.S. states have absolutely legalized marijuana for adults, based on a Reuters tally, however hashish stays labeled as an unlawful narcotic below federal legislation.

Advocates of liberalized marijuana legal guidelines argue that criminalization of low-level possession squanders legislation enforcement sources and disproportionately impacts individuals of coloration. Taxing hashish, they argue, would generate hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in new state revenues.

Opponents say legalizing pot can result in will increase in crime, vehicle and office accidents and an increase in drug use amongst youngsters.

Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles. Enhancing by Gerry Doyle

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.