Oklahoma has some of the toughest drug laws in the nation, with harsh penalties even for marijuana possession. However, the state may be one step closer to allowing medical marijuana after an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that could allow voters to decide the issue in November 2018.

In 2016, the group Oklahomans for Health attempted to put the issue of medical marijuana before state voters with SQ 788. However, the group says that then-Attorney General Scott Pruitt (now the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) re-wrote the ballot title to suit his own agenda, and that his revision misled voters.

Oklahomans for Health, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit, saying Pruitt's revision was an attempt to mislead voters into thinking that voting for the issue would mean voting to legalize recreational marijuana, rather than medical marijuana. 

Ryan Kiesel, Executive Director for the ACLU of Oklahoma, said of the issue, "Whether it's the folks that signed this initiative petition or all of the voters who will ultimately have the chance to weigh in on whether or not Oklahoma will have medical marijuana, they should be able to do that without the attorney general injecting his personal political position into the ballot campaign by misrepresenting what the petitioners seek to accomplish."

On Monday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court sided with Oklahomans for Health and ordered that Pruitt's revision be stricken and the original language of the ballot title restored. Only one justice disagreed; a second, newly-appointed Justice Patrick Wyrick, recused himself. You may recall that Wyrick was working for Pruitt's office at the time of the ballot title re-write.

Reports say the measure will likely appear on the November 2018 ballot, but that Governor Mary Fallin could set a date for a special election prior to that.

Of course, putting an issue before voters does not mean that it will, in fact, pass. While many see the medicinal benefits of marijuana, others continue the notion of marijuana as an illegal drug with no legitimate purpose. However, with the Court's ruling, Oklahoma voters should have the opportunity to make an informed decision about whether or not to allow medical marijuana in the Sooner State.