Today, the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, and American Farmers and Ranchers met for a press conference in Oklahoma City opposing State Question 820, on the legalization of recreational marijuana. Members from these three organizations believe the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state will have harmful repercussions to Oklahomans, especially in rural Oklahoma.
At the conference, made up of several local news outlets, KC Sheperd, Farm Director, had the chance to visit with leaders of each of these organizations about the implications of legalizing recreational marijuana in the state.
“This is an issue we have been in agreement on, all through this adventure on cannabis or marijuana, and this is a huge election next Tuesday,” said Rodd Moesel, OKFB president. “Everybody has been very concerned and worried about different aspects of the marijuana question for some time. This is going to be a chance to vote on whether to allow to expand to recreational in our state or to stop it from expanding to recreational in the state.”
As marijuana in the state already has caused implications for rural Oklahoma, Moesel said, if it becomes recreational, that will only multiply these issues. As ten percent of Oklahomans possess a medical marijuana card, Moesel said studies say that percentage will double as the population becomes more involved with marijuana.
Being a gateway drug, Moesel voiced concerns about recreational marijuana leading to an increase in usage of other drugs over time in the state, ultimately creating more problems in the workforce and more crime.
“If rural Oklahoma turns out the way they show in the polling, and they show up next Tuesday, we can beat this,” Moesel said.
Byron Yeoman, OCA president, talked about why OCA strongly opposes State Question 820.
“Our infrastructure is already messed up,” Yeoman said. “Electricity and water are already in short supply, and organized crime has moved into the area.”
Scott Blubaugh, AFR president, expanded on the issues in rural areas and talked more about how the abundance of grow operations has depleted water and electricity sources in these areas.
“I think our membership has seen a lot of negativity over the last few years with the medical marijuana being grown,” Blubaugh said. “Now, I know there are some folks doing it right and legal operations out there, but there is a lot of illegal operations and organized crime related.”
Because many organized crime operations are selling marijuana outside of the state for higher prices, Blubaugh said, they have an advantage over farmers when paying those higher land prices.
“If you are growing an illegal marijuana crop and exporting out of state, you can pay a much higher price for land than if you are growing wheat or cattle or corn in Oklahoma,” Blubaugh said. “So, it is priced a lot of our members out of the land market as well.”
