The Chronic Magazine - August 2022

Page 21

THINGS TO TELL YOUR LAWYER. BREAKING NEWS!

OKLAHOMANS SUBMIT OVER 160,000 SIGNATURES IN SUPPORT OF RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA A state question to legalize recreational marijuana is one step closer to going before voters this November after supporters turned in signatures Tuesday to qualify the measure for the ballot.

Licensing Report Growers Processors Dispensaries Transport Laboratory Waste Disposal

As of July 6th, there are 7,348 growers within our state We have 1,433 licensed processors in the state We currently have 2,286 dispensary licenses with this great state We now have 120 Transportation Licenses We have 27 licensed labs We have 9 licensed waste disposal faclities

Active Licenses: 383,037 Patients & 1,787 Caregivers (369, 247 in June 2021)

SQ788 TAX

(2,255 in June 2021)

STATE & LOCAL

SALES TAX

2019 (JAN. TO DEC.)

2019 (JAN. TO DEC.)

..................... $24,156,269

..................... $30,594,902

2020 (JAN. TO DEC.)

2020 (JAN. TO DEC.)

.................... $56,245,888

..................... $71,593,772

2021 (JAN. TO DEC.) ..................... $66,173,758

2021 (JAN. TO NOV.) ..................... $83,265,745

2022 ( JAN. TO JUNE)

........................ $28,908,535

November - $6,252,699

........................ $37,551,361

Source:https://www.oklahoman.com/

Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws turned in to the secretary of state's office about 164,000 signatures — significantly more than the 94,910 signatures required to qualify for a statewide vote. Throughout the signature-gathering phase, the campaign saw a groundswell of support and favorable polling for legalizing recreational cannabis, said Ryan Kiesel, senior campaign adviser. Come November, "we're expecting Oklahomans to say yes to this," he said. Most adults could partake in recreational cannabis under SQ 820 - State Question 820 would legalize recreational or "adult-use" marijuana for anyone age 21 or older. If approved, the question would impose a 15% excise tax on all recreational marijuana sales, which is higher than the 7% excise tax levied on all medical marijuana sales. The new tax revenue would be divided among the state's General Revenue Fund, localities where sales occur, school districts, the court system and drug treatment programs.

SQ 820 would not do away with the state's medical marijuana program. Rather, the recreational and medical cannabis programs would operate alongside each other with oversight from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority. Criminal justice reforms are a major piece of the state question. Under SQ 820, the changes to Oklahoma's marijuana laws would apply retroactively, which would allow some drug offenders to petition to have their convictions reversed and criminal records expunged.

BY JADE PEBWORTH

THINGS TO TELL YOUR LAWYER. Can you really tell your lawyer anything? Well, it depends. I am here to tell you that you should be telling your lawyer everything you possibly can related to their representation of you. Lawyers are bound by confidentiality between attorney and client; this allows us to get all the details from you to represent you to the best of our ability. For example, if you have a lawyer for your business, you should be telling them things about your business, contracts your business has entered, if there is an issue with an employee, and anything else that may impact the business. If you hire a lawyer for a criminal charge, you should be telling them EVERYTHING related to that charge. The Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct can be found in the Oklahoma Statutes within Title 5 Attorneys and the State Bar. Rule 1.6 – Confidentiality of Information lays out the rules regarding confidentiality and the duty your lawyer has. Part (a) of Rule 1.6 provides “a lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation or the disclosure is permitted…” This rule is extremely important for clients as it provides protection for the sensitive information you need to share with your lawyer. The rule goes on to define the permitted disclosures, such as “to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm; to prevent the client from committing: a crime;” These two are the big ones lawyers have to keep in the back of their minds. If you tell your lawyer you are going to harm yourself or others, even in the context of attorney-client communication, the lawyer may disclose that information to a third party, such as a reporting agency or health facility. If you tell your lawyer you are going to move five hundred pounds of product to Texas next week they can disclose that information to a third party without violating attorney-client confidentiality. BUT if you tell your lawyer that you moved five hundred pounds of product to Texas last week, we are to keep that in confidence IF you have retained your lawyer for that purpose. Another key part of this rule is “information relating to the representation of a client” if you tell your lawyer about something outside of their representation, like the affair your neighbor is having that no one knows about yet, they are not required to keep that confidential pursuant to this rule, because that is outside of the information relating to their representation.

FOR QUESTIONS OR MORE INFORMATION EMAIL JADE@BICLEGAL.COM

- Jade thechronicmagazine.com

AUGUST 2022

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