Chicken-Fried News: Even though — per capita

— Oklahoma has gotten the cannabis question more correct than anywhere on the planet, the state’s highest court is still living in The Twilight Zone, or at least something syndicated in black-and-white

click to enlarge Chicken-Fried News: Even though — per capita
Jerry Bennett

A “That marijuana possession is legal in Oklahoma for those who are issued a valid medical marijuana license does not change the fact that marijuana possession otherwise is generally a crime in Oklahoma. Several states have determined that decriminalization of marijuana does not equate to blanket legalization and thus, the odor (or presence) of marijuana remains a factor indicating criminal activity despite statutes which decriminalize marijuana possession in certain circumstances,” Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Gary L. Lumpkin.

In other words, what sets a patient aside from a criminal is $104.30 and a doctor’s John Handcock. The difference between a valediction from a police officer and a potential criminal record or jail sentence is a bill and change. Welcome to Oklahoma, America.

This is occurring in an era when the decriminalization of the next wave of psychoactive substances — entheogens, namely psilocybin or psychedelic mushrooms — are rapidly being decriminalized or outright legalized. 

“Why is marijuana illegal? It grows naturally upon our planet. Doesn’t the idea of making nature against the law seem to you a bit paranoid? It’s nature. How do you make nature against the fuckin’ law?” Bill Hicks asked in his last stand-up special before his death nearly 30 years ago.

So how do we? 

Even United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas opined last week, “A prohibition on interstate use or cultivation of marijuana may no longer be necessary or proper to support the federal government’s piecemeal approach.”

That’s right. One of America’s most conservative justices said that our cannabis laws are out of date. It only took a patchwork of more than half of this union’s states voting for some form of decriminalization or legalization for the highest court to realize most of us want to get high. Welcome to America, Oklahoma.

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