Tulsa businesses give their take on recreational marijuana

TULSA, Okla. — Oklahomans will soon decide whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana. FOX23 spoke with local business owners about how this could impact them.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt declared a special election for March for voters to cast their ballots on legalizing recreational marijuana. This comes after the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected a petition to get the question on the ballot for Nov. 8.

Red Eye 420, at its bones, was an Oklahoma family looking to start a business and sell medical marijuana. Jason McLaughlin has his own building, own product, t-shirts and everything else.

“It’s a living. You can make a living and you can do it with your family,” said McLaughlin. “When you first started, anyone could do it and that is what made it great.”

Then, he said, came new requirements, inspections and regulations that had his business spinning its wheels to understand and pay for.

“We had to get a license to sell food even though we don’t make it or package it. We had to have a restaurant license to be able to sell it,” said McLaughlin.

He said it became expensive and competitive, but he gets a steady 100 customers or so a day, and thinks legal recreational marijuana is going to help them continue to cash in and help customers.

“I think there are some patients out there that do not have a card who will go through their friends or whatever,” said McLaughlin. “We obviously can’t sell to those people, but think there are people who want to get a card but can’t.”

Those are the kinds of businesses that Jed Green and Oklahoma for Responsible Cannabis Action said they root for.

“The good news is that recreational marijuana is on the ballot. The bad news is the policy for recreational marijuana in 820 is terrible. "

Green said it will come with more costs, like an entire new license and application to pay for annually, which could cost thousands of dollars more. He also said that it allows the local government to tell a business owner what time they can open and close their business.

But he still he believes people like McLaughlin and his shop will do well and benefit. “It is going to help a lot of people in general all the way around,” said Green.

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