With a Marijuana Shop on ‘Every Corner,’ Oklahoma Rejects Full Legalization

In the past few years, Oklahoma, long a solid bastion of conservatism, has quietly undergone a street-level transformation when it comes to marijuana. Dispensaries dot the landscape, with more than 400 in Oklahoma City alone.

And that’s just for medical marijuana.

On Tuesday, voters across Oklahoma opted against going further, according to The Associated Press, rejecting a ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational marijuana use by adults 21 and over.

With the vote, Oklahoma joined a number of conservative states whose voters have recently decided against recreational marijuana legalization. Though Missouri approved a state constitutional amendment to allow for recreational marijuana in November, voters in other conservative states, including Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota, rejected similar proposals.

The vote on Tuesday was a setback for marijuana legalization proponents in Oklahoma who had anticipated that laissez-faire economic attitudes and growing support among younger Republicans would provide a pathway for the state to join a diverse assortment of 21 states and the District of Columbia in adopting legal recreational marijuana, from Alaska and the Mountain West to the coasts and parts of the Midwest.

But voters in Oklahoma, where nearly 10 percent of the population already has a medical marijuana card, appeared to have decided that the current level of access to the drug was enough. In the end, the measure failed. Sixty-three percent voted no, while 38 percent voted yes, with about 90 percent of ballots counted as of Tuesday night.

“I’ve got no problem with the use of marijuana,” said Paul Boudreaux, 67, a lawyer whose face often appears in local television commercials for his firm and voted no on the measure. He said he had supported medical marijuana and called Tuesday’s vote a “difficult choice.”

“I think the harm that can come of this, especially when the drug cartels are coming in from everywhere, because it’s totally uncontrolled, exceeds the good and the tax money that the state will acquire,” Mr. Boudreaux said.

Opponents and supporters of what was known as State Question 820 massed along mostly familiar lines. Criminal justice reform advocates, the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and some labor unions voiced support. Opponents included the governor, Kevin Stitt, along with dozens of Republican state lawmakers and some law enforcement and agricultural associations.

“The reason I think it’s a bad idea is that it’s still illegal federally,” Governor Stitt said at a news conference last month. “I think marijuana is bad for young people. I think people need to understand the side effects of that.”

He also said that the state had struggled with the swift rise of marijuana production after the adoption by voters of a medical marijuana program in 2018.

The state, which has prided itself on being welcoming to commerce, opened a similar door to the marijuana industry, offering business licenses at a fraction of the price in other states. The state also offers cheaper land prices and building costs for new businesses.

“We have something like seven or eight thousand growers in Oklahoma,” Mr. Stitt said, compared with about a quarter of that number in California, which has legalized recreational marijuana. “It’s taken us a while to get our arms around that.”

The state legislature passed a two-year moratorium on new medical marijuana business licenses last year. The Oklahoma Farm Bureau, which opposes recreational marijuana legalization, has said the existing marijuana industry in the state is already straining rural infrastructure.

A bill introduced in Oklahoma this legislative session would place new restrictions on ballot initiatives, including barring them from even-numbered years, when turnout is higher. Conservatives generally have an advantage in elections with lower turnout.

Mr. Stitt set the date of Tuesday’s election, a day in March when no other statewide races are on the ballot. Proponents of the measure had been worried that low turnout could doom their efforts. Early vote totals were far below those in a typical Oklahoma election.

“That’s been one of our biggest challenges — making sure people know that there’s an election,” said Ryan Kiesel, a spokesman for the Yes on 820 campaign. He said the group expected to spend about $5 million on the effort, much of which went to the initial push to gather enough signatures to put the initiative on the ballot, and also toward advertising to raise awareness of the vote. Opponents have spent a fraction of that amount.

“This election isn’t about whether or not Oklahoma will have marijuana,” Mr. Kiesel said. “Marijuana is here. It’s about what we’re going to do about it.” He pointed to those Oklahomans without medical marijuana cards who have been arrested for possession of the drug, pointing to the need to more fully legalize it.

The proliferation of dispensaries — the state counts 2,890 active licenses — is evident on even the shortest drive through many municipalities. In the Oklahoma City neighborhood of Bricktown, which has many restaurants and hotels, dispensaries were already setting up before the election in anticipation of possible marijuana tourism from Texas or other neighboring states, should the ballot measure have passed.

“I feel like we already have recreational marijuana. It just doesn’t seem like there are any barriers,” Mayor David Holt said in a recent interview with The New York Times. “Right now, I’m well aware there’s a dispensary on every corner.”

On Tuesday, outside a polling place in downtown Tulsa, Quinn Johnson said he voted yes on the measure, which, in addition to legalizing the use of marijuana for those 21 and over, would also have set up a process for expunging criminal convictions for certain past marijuana offenses.

“I support decriminalization of drugs, especially marijuana,” said Mr. Johnson, 24, who has had a medical marijuana card for about a year. “The tax money is going to go, they say, toward schools, drug rehabilitation, student retention, you know, like, that’s all great.”

At House of Dank, a marijuana dispensary in the city, Austin Reed, a co-manager of the store, said that legalizing recreational marijuana could have doubled his business and brought in more tax revenue to the state. “I’ve heard it could bring more crime and stuff like that, but I’m not so sure,” Mr. Reed said.

At a polling place in a church in south Tulsa, voters opposed to the measure were not hard to find. “We already have too many marijuana problems right now,” Cherrie Stunkard, 65, said, pointing to the safety impact of marijuana on drivers. “We don’t need more, and this will absolutely cause more problems.”

Kristi Eaton contributed reporting from Tulsa, Okla.