Commissioners hear concerns about recreational marijuana

“Sequoyah County has more dispensaries than gas stations or grocery stores.”

That was just one of the comments overheard at Monday’s meeting of the Sequoyah County Board of Commissioners.

The topic about the upcoming election to legalize recreational marijuana became a discussion among some of those at the meeting, including some emergency personnel and local and county agency representatives. Most seemed opposed to State Question 820, which will be decided Tuesday by voters, not only in Sequoyah County, but throughout Oklahoma.

If passed, State Question 820 would expand marijuana legalization to recreational use in Oklahoma for everyone age 21 and older.

There was some concerns about how legalizing recreational use of marijuana would affect younger teens and children, bringing to mind a recent incident at Webbers Falls when several students nearly died from using a “weed vape” supposedly laced with fentanyl, according to comments. Most of the nine students affected had to be revived with naloxone, a nasal spray to treat narcotic overdose in an emergency situation, according to officials with the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office.

Lindsie Dyer, Youth and Family Service counselor and coordinator from People Inc., said in the past 11 and a half years she has worked with teens and children, she has seen the “good, bad and ugly” of drug use on a daily basis.

“I respect the opinions of others regarding State Question 820, and I am not saying that I am totally against it. As a counselor, I have seen the benefits that marijuana can have for some individuals,” Dyer said. “However, SQ820 is concerning due to the fact that times have changed and we aren’t living in Woodstock anymore. The THC levels in marijuana are no longer in the 1 or 2 percent range that they once were. Now, these levels range from 17 to 28 percent and higher, depending on the strand. SQ820 does not limit THC content.

“This is concerning when it comes to our children and youth. SQ820 permits the smoking of marijuana while children are present. This would cause youth to become more at risk as gummies, oils and other related items become more accessible. Edibles are being disguised as candy, chips and other kid-friendly snacks.

“This leads me to my next concern, which is our local school system. With easier access, children will be bringing these items to school and sharing them with others,” Dyer said.

Through her department at People Inc., Dyer said she, with help from other agencies, “work hard” to prevent children from using drugs by providing prevention and education in the local school systems.

“We tell them to ‘just say no.’ We host drug-free campaigns every October and use schoolbased prevention methods. I feel that this sends the wrong message to our youth, and contradicts everything we have worked so hard to teach them over the years,” she said.

“I am not completely against SQ820, but I feel that there needs to be more regulations, rules and laws on it before we get to the point of voting,” Dyer said.

Jim Rogers said that as a grandfather, he is also opposed to passing the law on recreational marijuana, and wonders what problems it may bring where children are involved.

“When you have to use NARCAN on a young person four times to revive them … The kids in Webbers Falls were knocking on Heaven’s door when that incident happened. And, yes, I have big concerns about people getting this stuff to the children, and I’m not afraid to say I’m opposed to it,” Rogers said.

“Someone has to take a stand on it, and as a grandfather, I’m not afraid to take that stand.

“I’m not at all opposed to medical marijuana and hope people can benefit from it, but I am opposed to recreational marijuana,” Rogers said.

Rogers is not alone, and said the state has currently stopped issuing anymore marijuana grow licenses until they can “clean up” the problems which have come about with illegal grow operations.

“Oklahoma is ranked Number 1 in having the most number of grow operations nationally — more than California and Colorado combined,” Rogers said.

“We need to get out of this wild, wild west where marijuana is concerned. Until we can address the current problems we have, we do not need to pass State Question 820. We got the wagon ahead of the horse with medical marijuana problems, and we need to take care of those before we consider recreational marijuana,” Rogers said.