Bill on public smoking of cannabis passes committee

TULSA — A bill that places the same restrictions on smoking or vaping cannabis in public places which already exist for tobacco has sailed through a committee in the Oklahoma Senate.

SB 1296 basically adds language to the existing "Smoking in Public Places and Indoor Workplaces Act," specifying that smoking cannabis is prohibited in the same places as smoking tobacco.

Specifically, the change reads:

“A building or other property or portion thereof owned oroperated by a countyor municipal government so designated may prohibit tobacco or marijuana smoking, vaping of nicotine or marijuana, or the lawful products which are consumed or used in a smoked or vaporized manner.”

The bill's author, Sen. Lonnie Paxton (R-Chickasha), tells KRMG he just wanted to clear up any confusion regarding the smoking of cannabis, even for medical reasons.

“You can still consume it in an edible form, so we're not stopping that,” Paxton said Tuesday. “This just has to do with how much it's going to disrupt people around you if you're walking through a public place smoking marijuana.”

Some people might try to argue that the current law specifically prohibits tobacco use only, he said.

His bill passed through the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services by a vote of 9-0.