“For one, I think it shows the will of the people to make a decision – are you for treatment and actually improving the health of individuals who are struggling with these illnesses? Is the Oklahoma Standard to provide these resources to individuals who are struggling with chronic illnesses that are diseases of the brain, or is it to be punitive and lock them up to get them out of the way and out of our society for a limited period of time without solving or addressing the issues that really plague these individuals, which are illnesses? I think we’ll find out on Nov. 8.”

– State Health Commissioner Terry Cline, on State Questions 780 and 781, which would reclassify some drug crimes and invest the savings in treatment (Source). OK Policy’s fact sheet on State Questions 780 and 781 are available here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carly Putnam joined OK Policy in 2013. As Policy Director, she supervises policy research and strategy. She previously worked as an OK Policy intern, and she was OK Policy's health care policy analyst through July 2020. She graduated from the University of Tulsa in 2013. As a student, she was a participant in the National Education for Women (N.E.W.) Leadership Institute and interned with Planned Parenthood. Carly is a graduate of the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits Nonprofit Management Certification; the Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council’s Partners in Policymaking; The Mine, a social entrepreneurship fellowship in Tulsa; and Leadership Tulsa Class 62. She currently serves on the boards of Restore Hope Ministries and The Arc of Oklahoma. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and doing battle with her hundred year-old house.

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