Tulsans voice their opinion about recreational marijuana

TULSA, Okla. — People in the community, as well as the Tulsa County district attorney, gave their input about the possibility of legal recreational marijuana in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt issued a proclamation Tuesday declaring voters will get the chance to decide whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023.

Those dining at Mom’s Cafe talked about the vote they’ll soon decide. Randy Alley is a frequent customer with his mind made up.

“I grew up in the ‘60s so I’m familiar with marijuana, pot and all that stuff, and I know what that did to us in the ‘60s,” said Alley. “I don’t think that we need more of that today. We’ve got enough struggles as it is without having a bunch of people running around stoned.”

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said the public is misinformed about the consequences of legalizing medical and recreational marijuana, and he is seeing this play out in the courtrooms.

“We never had the potency with drugs like we do with marijuana right now, and we certainly weren’t hearing back from the medical community about the levels of people that are coming into the emergency room suffering from psychosis, and when you draw their blood the only thing that’s in their blood is THC,” said Kunzweiler.

He said Oklahoma is already over producing marijuana, 3 thousand growers for 400 thousand licenses, leaving the rest for the black market.

Yes on 820 is the group backing the legalization of recreational marijuana. Michelle Tilley, the campaign director for the organization, said it’s important to regulate marijuana, like how alcohol is regulated.

“I’m a mother myself so I obviously care about kids and their safety,” said Tilley. “Marijuana is something that is out there and it’s a lot like alcohol. These things are out there and we have to responsibly regulate them, tax them, make sure that the products are safe.”

At Mom’s Cafe, Joseph Meyer said voters need to have the final say.

“People should be able to make the choice for themselves,” said Meyer. “I think that the research is still out there on how beneficial it can be for everybody, but I do think that, as Americans, that’s our right to decide if we want something like that to be available for people.”

©2022 Imagicomm Tulsa, Inc.