An Oklahoma state senator has turned to the bestselling book in history — the Bible — to advance her battle to legalize marijuana in the state, arguing that God created the “miraculous plant.”
In this Dec. 5, 2013, photo marijuana matures in ideal conditions at the Medicine Man dispensary and grow operation in northeast Denver. As Colorado prepares to be the first in the nation to allow recreational pot sales, opening Jan. 1, hopeful retailers are investing their fortunes into the legal recreational pot world, all for a chance to build even bigger ones in a fledgling industry that faces an uncertain future. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski) AP Photo/Ed Andrieski
State Sen. Constance Johnson’s new campaign is apparently based on Genesis 1:29, which deals with the biblical story of creation and the Lord’s intentions for mankind.
The verse reads: “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.’”
The scripture is being used to tout Johnson’s effort to create a constitutional amendment that would legalize three ounces of pot for medicinal purposes and one ounce for recreational use in Oklahoma, according to KFOR-TV.
“We’re putting forth Genesis 1:29 as the basis of this campaign,” she said after filing a statewide initiative to try and take the issue to voters, the outlet reported. “God created this wonderful, miraculous plant and we know that it has been vilified for the last 100 years, and it’s time to change that in Oklahoma.”
Johnson is arguing that legalization would alleviate burdens on prisons that house non-violent drug offenders and provide monetary benefits to the state, as there would be a $7 per ounce tax on recreational marijuana.