Group seeks signatures to decriminalize pot

Fine would be like a traffic ticket

A pro-marijuana group wants the voters in Oklahoma City to decide whether to reduce the penalties for possessing cannabis.

The group Reform OKC filed an initiative petition on Monday.

They want the penalty to be treated more like a traffic ticket with a fine of up to $500.

That would be enough to put the measure on the ballot for the next citywide municipal election.

Organizer Mark Faulk, a Democratic candidate for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, says the group has 90 days to gather signatures from 6,200 registered voters in Oklahoma City.

Faulk says the all-volunteer, grassroots effort gathered steam after a recent pro-marijuana rally at the Capitol that drew hundreds of people from across the state.

State Sen. Connie Johnson of Oklahoma City supports the effort.