It looks like the Sooner State doesn't want to be the Stoner State. For now at least.
On Tuesday, Oklahoma voters went to the polls to decide the whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
Medical marijuana is already legal in the state. It's pretty popular and fairly loosely controlled. According to Tulsa ABC affiliate KTUL-8, Oklahoma has more than 2,300 legal dispensaries, the most of any state in the nation. You can buy medical cannibs in its various forms at more places in the state than you can buy gasoline.
With so many dispensaries for a relatively small population, there are plenty of rumors that, in some shops, sales might not be confined to those with those with the required state medical card. If that underground trade could become above board, the profits would be enormous. Especially considering the huge Texas market to the south where both recreational and medical marijuana remain taboo.
So proponents were fairly confident that Question 820 -- allowing recreational marijuana use -- would pass.
It didn't. Oklahoma voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected the question by a margin of 62% to 38%
In November, voters in neighboring Arkansas also rejected the idea of recreational pot by a margin of 56% to 44%.
Recreational marijuana is now legal in 21 states and the nation's capital. One can debate the pros and cons all day. But it seems it will still be a while before voters in our neck of the woods cotton to the idea.