"Recreational Marijuana" - The Cannabis Industry - Can Turn Some of The Reddest States Green

Arizona can be one of the next states in the new legal economy to see the benefits.

> Here's one reason in the case of voter approval of Proposition 207

THE REALIZATION THAT PUBLIC OFFICIALS WERE SO FAR OUT OF TOUCH WITH PUBLIC OPINION INSPIRED A SMALL GROUP OF POLITICALLY DIVERSE ACTIVISTS TO CHALLENGE THE CONSERVATIVES' STRANGLEHOLD ON PUBLIC POLICY

A post on this blog from 3 years ago 

 

> Here's a story with some on-the-ground details from growers in Oklahoma: 

What is happening in Oklahoma is almost unprecedented among the 35 states that have legalized marijuana in some form since California voters backed medical marijuana in 1996. Not only has the growth of its market outstripped other more established state programs but it is happening in a state that has long stood out for its opposition to drug use. Oklahoma imprisons more people on a per-capita basis than just about any other state in the country, many of them non-violent drug offenders sentenced to lengthy terms behind bars. But that state-sanctioned punitive streak has been overwhelmed by two other strands of American culture—a live-and-let-live attitude about drug use and an equally powerful preference for laissez-faire capitalism.

“Turns out rednecks love to smoke weed,” Baker laughs. “That’s the thing about cannabis: It really bridges socio-economic gaps. The only other thing that does it is handguns. All types of people are into firearms. All types of people are into cannabis.”

How One of the Reddest States Became the Nation’s Hottest Weed Market

Oklahoma entered the world of legal cannabis late, but its hands-off approach launched a boom and a new nickname: ‘Toke-lahoma.’

Photographs for Politico Magazine by Misty Keasler/Redux

By PAUL DEMKO

11/27/2020 07:09 AM EST

Paul Demko is the cannabis editor at POLITICO Pro

Indeed, Oklahoma has established arguably the only free-market marijuana industry in the country. Unlike almost every other state, there are no limits on how many business licenses can be issued and cities can’t ban marijuana businesses from operating within their borders. In addition, the cost of entry is far lower than in most states: a license costs just $2,500. . .

“They’ve literally done what no other state has done: free-enterprise system, open market, wild wild west,” says Tom Spanier, who opened Tegridy Market (a dispensary that takes its name from South Park) with his wife in Oklahoma City last year. . .

But lax as it might seem, Oklahoma’s program has generated a hefty amount of tax revenue while avoiding some of the pitfalls of more intensely regulated programs.

>Through the first 10 months of this year, the industry generated more than $105 million in state and local taxes. That’s more than the $73 million expected to be produced by the state lottery this fiscal year, though still a pittance in comparison to the overall state budget of nearly $8 billion. In addition, Oklahoma has largely escaped the biggest problems that have plagued many other state markets: Illegal sales are relatively rare and the low cost to entry has made corruption all but unnecessary.

. . . All of which has made Oklahoma an unlikely case study for the rest of the country, which continues its incremental march toward universal legalization. Oklahoma is struggling with the sudden growing pains common to all booms.