District Attorneys weigh in on Governor’s ambition to send medical marijuana back to a statewide vote – News 9

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Two district attorneys from Northeast Oklahoma agree with the Governor’s characterization of the industry as being rife with criminal bad actors.
More than two weeks after Governor Kevin Stitt announced an ambitious plan to send the state’s medical marijuana industry back to a vote of the people, new stakeholders are weighing in.
District Attorneys for Tulsa County and Rogers, Craig, and Mayes counties sat down with News 9 to discuss the Governor’s proposal.
Previously, marijuana business owners have discussed their opposition to the idea, and law enforcement agencies and state lawmakers have responded with varying degrees of support and reservation.
“I’m just glad there’s finally some recognition that the marijuana policy in Oklahoma has absolutely failed,” said District Attorney Matt Ballard of District 12, who is a Republican. “It’s done a disservice to our law enforcement, to our children, to our community.”
Ballard said his experience in a rural community is different than those in urban areas of the state.
“These warning bells have been going off ever since this ruse has been proposed to the public,” said Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler, who is a Republican. “I oftentimes say that Oklahoma has been used a s a social welfare experiment station for the rest of the country; come up with the most radical idea and try and dump it on a population, and then watch the carnage unfold.”
While Ballard and Kunzweiler take issue with the belief in using marijuana as medicine, Governor Stitt’s call to abolish the industry hinged on what was described as out-of-control criminal elements.
“I remember at one point they were saying that it was an interdiction indicator — when law enforcement is trying to do interdiction on a road — if they see an Oklahoma tag go by, that might be an indicator that somebody potentially could be hauling drugs,” Kunzweiler said, explaining that Oklahoma’s gross production of marijuana exceeded what could be consumed in the state by those with a medical marijuana card.
Licenses for marijuana businesses have dropped by the thousands in recent years following enforcement from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, regulation changes from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, and new compliance rules with the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
“We’re seeing every DA district in every county — everyone in the state — is being impacted by this in slightly different ways, but it’s all negative,” Ballard said. “It all shows that this problem is statewide. It exists everywhere.”
As of now, no formal plans have been made to bring the Governor’s plan to abolish the industry to a statewide vote.
In the Oklahoma City metro, the Cleveland County District Attorney told News 9 she agrees with Ballard and Kunzweiler’s assessment of the industry.
Oklahoma County’s District Attorney was not available to give a comment on Thursday, and the Canadian County District Attorney has not yet responded to a request for comment.
In 2025, a first-ever report was prepared for the state’s District Attorneys, and other policy leaders, about the impact of marijuana in Oklahoma from the perspective of law enforcement working the Texoma high intensity drug trafficking area.
The report concluded that chronic oversupply was fueling illicit activity in Oklahoma.
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