Oklahoma Police Leaders Raise Alarm About Marijuana As Legalization Campaign Targets 2026 Ballot

As Oklahoma activists work to collect signatures for a 2026 ballot initiative to legalize adult-use marijuana in the state, law enforcement leaders are raising concerns about cannabis.

Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA)—which has partnered with more than 400 dispensaries and retailers across the state to carry their legalization ballot petitions—says recent anti-marijuana comments from a police association and state law enforcement agency speak to the strength of their effort.

At a press conference on Thursday, Moore Police Chief Todd Gibson, who serves as president of the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs, said “the citizens of Oklahoma have already spoken out against this issue and have resoundingly said we don’t want recreational marijuana.”

That was a reference to an earlier, 2023 initiative to legalize recreational cannabis that voters rejected at the ballot.

Gibson also criticized the implementation of the state’s medical marijuana program, which was approved by voters in 2018, linking it to “a significant increase in access to our youth [and] impacts on our community with crime.”

“We’ve seen black market and international crime enter Oklahoma and put a strain on public safety,” he said. “Nowhere have I seen marijuana make better communities and safer communities.”

Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD) Director Donnie Anderson is also raising alarm about marijuana. While he didn’t explicitly encourage opposition to the 2026 initiative, he told KOCO News he has broader concerns about “organized crime” in Oklahoma.

“That’s what I’m having to deal with. You could have gas and get a medical marijuana card. That’s pretty recreational if you ask me,” he said. “This isn’t about medical. I absolutely believe there is a spot and place for people. That’s not what’s going on here. Even the people who do this legally, we’re driving them out of business.”

Jed Green, founder of OCRA, told Marijuana Moment that the opposition from law enforcement before the initiative is even certified for ballot placement and more than a year before it’d potentially get a vote is a sign that his campaign has momentum.

“We have a state agency and law enforcement organizations weighing in and opposing State Question 837 before it is even cleared for ballot access,” he said. “That is very atypical and very unprecedented, and we believe that it actually shows the strength of our effort.”

“Ultimately, if these folks didn’t feel threatened by what we’re doing, they would not have attacked us six months before there’s even potentially a ‘yes’ campaign,” he said.

He also said that, while the OBNDD director didn’t directly seek to influence voters one way or another, the state agency did use its Facebook page to promote an article about the press conference with the police chief, which could amount to a “violation of use of state resources.”

“Because while the director was not necessarily [opposing it himself] they promoted a one-sided piece against 837,” he said. “We’ve reached out to the Oklahoma State Ethics Commission to ask them to provide a little bit of clarity for ourselves and the agency to make sure that everyone is clear on what is and what is not allowable.”

“Possibly these statements by local law enforcement are a reaction to our organization surpassing 400 signature gathering locations here across the state,” he said.

To help facilitate the signature gathering process, ORCA has also launched an interactive map that helps prospective supporters locate the businesses—a mix of existing medical cannabis dispensaries and other retailers, from restaurants to tattoo parlors to liquor stores—that are keeping petitions on-site.

There are challenges unique to this election cycle, as earlier this year Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) gave final approval to legislation that some advocates worry will inhibit future citizen-led policy changes, including cannabis reform.

The law puts additional requirements on initiative “gist” language that voters see on the ballot and also revise policies around signature gathering to make it so petitioners could only submit signatures from up to 11.5 percent of registered voters in a single county for statutory proposals and 20.8 percent for constitutional measures. The law is currently being litigated for reasons unrelated to the specific cannabis proposal.

For its initial signature gathering campaign, ORCA will be focused on ensuring that rural areas are set up so that advocates will be able to monitor them as a “baseline.” After that point, they’ll target the state’s larger cities like Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

ORCA will need to submit the required 172,993 signatures by November 4, after which point the secretary of state’s office will need to validate them. Then there will be a 90-day window for any legal challenges to the measure. If the campaign clears that barrier, it will appear on the November 2026 ballot.

Green previously said that one of the key differences between the initiative his organization is pushing and the one that failed at the ballot in 2023 is that it accounts for concerns about licensing rules. Many have criticized the rollout of the state’s medical marijuana law, which led to a dramatic proliferation of dispensaries, and Green said the failed adult-use measure effectively duplicated that licensing scheme.

Here’s what ORCA’s latest marijuana legalization initiative would accomplish:

Meanwhile in Oklahoma, lawmakers in March advanced a bill aimed at protecting gun rights of state-registered medical marijuana patients, although federal law still bars cannabis users from owning firearms regardless of their patient status.

Another state bill filed in January by a GOP legislator would criminalize the use of medical cannabis during pregnancy.

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.