SQ 837: Constitutional vs Statutory and Why it matters

A short from The Green Brief episode 1 with Jed Green that breaks down the importance of the constitutional amendment approach to legalization.

Mason Pain (07:38.951)

So why is it important for Oklahoma to pass this kind of reform at the constitutional level?

JED GREEN (07:55.45)

Well, it's pretty simple really. Right now, our medical program is a statutory privilege. It is something that can be modified in any way, or form by lawmakers, and that is a year in, year out discussion. And what we saw early in the program was kind of a focus on regulating businesses. And as they have overdone that the last few years, they're now, we see evidence that they're starting to move towards, you know, restricting patient access very subtly, not overnight, but over time, you know, suppressing medical access. And so, the difference is. . .is that statutory is a privilege, constitutional is a right. And I know I'll sleep a lot better at night if I know that the only thing we've really got to worry about at the Capitol year in, year out relates to the industry and not our individual rights and protections. I think if lawmakers think about this proposition a little bit, then they may too see the benefit to knowing that we're not going to succumb to the temptation to go hit the hornet's nest as opposed to just work it out with the industry on how we're providing consumer safe products.