This past Tuesday residents of Oklahoma voted 68% -32% not to approve recreational pot.
The vote was moved from November to March because the anti-pot folks wanted it voted on as a stand-alone issue. This was done because it increased the odds of it being voted down (click here.)
The irony of Oklahoma not becoming the 22nd state to fully legalize pot is that their 2018 approval of medical cannabis has been so widespread that overall folks thought they should hold off on full legalization for awhile.
On top of those concerns, there was a very ugly incident in November where four Chinese nationals were murdered on an Oklahoma pot farm (click here.) And while that incident did not garner hardly any national attention, in Oklahoma it generated much negative publicity having to do with issues of foreign ownership, human trafficking and black market practices in the pot industry. In a heavily conservative state like Oklahoma, folks were concerned that fully legalizing pot would do more harm than good. Accordingly, the measure was defeated by over a 2-1 margin.
The pro-pot folks spent something like $4.9 million trying to get the vote approved (click here.) It leads me to conclude that that is a lot of money to go up in smoke with nothing to show for it!
I have this classic on 8 track in Buzzy’s Country Store. Folks invariably ask to buy it but I tell them it’s not for sale.