Oklahoma activists officially started signature gathering for a 2026 ballot initiative to legalize adult-use marijuana in the state on Wednesday—and the campaign has hundreds of retailers, primarily medical cannabis dispensaries, ready to lend a hand.
The work began about a month ago, after Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action cleared a procedure hurdle that allowed signature collection. It’s been two years since a previous version of this reform was defeated by the voters.
Some challenges are unique to the current election, since earlier in this year Governor. Kevin Stitt’s (R) final approval of legislation, which many advocates fear could hinder any future changes in policy driven by citizens including marijuana 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.
ORCA, a leading organizer in the campaign, says that to achieve this, it is using a network of hundreds of partners who are already working within the existing medical cannabis industry and also other sectors where they have all agreed to maintain petitions.
“I’m feeling pretty good.” The strategy is fairly straightforward. At this point, we’ve managed to secure somewhere between 250 and 300 retail locations across the state—a lot of dispensaries, but also a lot of other allied locations” to keep signature packets on site for voters, Jed Green, founder of OCRA, told MEDCAN24 on Monday. The number continues to increase daily.
“What we are focused on right now is making sure as many of those retail locations have all got signature packets here this week—and so all the printing has gone on, all of that assemblies are going and we’re starting to pump those into the distribution network,” he said.
ORCA’s initial signature campaign will focus on rural areas so advocates can monitor them. Then, the campaign will focus on Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
It’s also a good time to canvass at events. Green noted that the fall is a busy time for public events, home football games and fairs. The first thing to do is make sure we have good retail access. After that, it’s time for the traditional signature gathering.
A relatively new law has added requirements to the “gist” of initiative language on ballots. It also changed the policies for gathering signatures to limit petitioners to submitting signatures of up to 11.5% of voters registered in one county.
The law in question is being litigated, but not for the cannabis-specific proposal.
Green has said, however, that, following the 30 day signature drive of his campaign, “we will take stock and see what needs to be done to expedite things, if required.”
In general, “people have moved from being cautiously hopeful a few month ago to being fairly enthusiastic, and people are coming to the table daily to lend a hand,” said he.
Everyone seems to be a bit excited right now. In the administration, we are feeling good. “We’ve set everyone up for success,” said he. It’ll be fascinating to see what happens in the first thirty days.
ORCA needs to gather at least 172.993 valid signatures of voters from across the state in order to eventually qualify for placement on the ballot.
Green previously said that one of the key differences between the initiative his organization is pushing and the one that failed at the ballot in 2023 is that it accounts for concerns about licensing rules. Green has said that the adult-use initiative, which failed in 2023, effectively replicated the licensing system of the medical marijuana measure, which was widely criticized by many.
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Meanwhile 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.
Brian Shamblen is the photographer.
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