Recreational marijuana effort falls short in Oklahoma

In this July 30, 2018 file photo, Zora Braun gestures to people as cars drive by a location in Oklahoma City where they can sign petitions for recreational marijuana and a constitutional amendment for medical marijuana. AP

OKLAHOMA CITY — An effort to place recreational marijuana on Oklahoma’s general election ballot in November has fallen more than 20,000 signatures short.

Secretary of State James Williamson announced Monday that his office determined that supporters of the initiative gathered nearly 103,000 signatures for State Question 797 . The group needed more than 123,000 signatures for the proposed constitutional amendment to qualify for a public vote.

Supporters want to amend the constitution to allow adults over the age of 21 to legally use marijuana.

Williamson’s office sent a report on its findings to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which will review the information and make a final decision on the group’s effort.

Williamson announced last week that a separate state question to constitutionally protect medical marijuana also fell short of the signature requirement. /ee