Ohio Voters Approve Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative Making it the 24th state to end Prohibition

On Tuesday, Ohio voters passed a ballot measure to legalize marijuana. This makes Ohio the 24th state in the U.S. that has ended prohibition.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which promoted the measure, establishes a framework that allows adults aged 21 and over to buy, possess, and grow cannabis. Recent surveys indicated that it would pass despite the opposition of the state’s GOP lawmakers and governor.

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Voters were presented with summary language for the initiative–designated as Issue 2–that says the measure would legalize and regulate “the cultivation, processing, sale, purchase, possession, home grow, and use of cannabis by adults at least twenty-one years of age.”

Casey Weinstein, a Democratic Ohio representative who has been a champion of legalization at the state legislature, said to Marijuana Moment Tuesday that “a broad, bipartisan, and diverse array Ohioans spoke loudly tonight.” The time has come to legalize marijuana. I hope that the leaders of the legislature will listen to their voice and respect the will expressed by the voters.”

The legalization of possession up to 2,5 ounces and cultivation up to 6 plants (or 12, if more than two adults reside in the same home) under the measure will take effect on December 7th. The approval of licensed retailers must be done within nine months after the date of legalization.

The Ohio legalization ballot initiative has several key provisions.

• This initiative will allow adults over 21 to possess up to 2.5 ounces (or 15 grams) of cannabis. They can also have marijuana concentrates up to 15 gram.
• Each individual could grow six plants to use for their own personal needs, and a maximum of 12 plants in a household.
• The 10 percent tax on cannabis sales would go to fund social equity and job programs (36%), localities who allow adult-use marijuana businesses to operate in their areas (36%), education and drug misuse programs (25%), and administrative costs for implementing the system (3%).
• The Department of Commerce would establish a Division of Cannabis Control. The division would be able to “license and regulate adult-use cannabis operators, adult-use testing laboratories, as well as individuals who are required to have a license.”
• This measure will give current medical cannabis businesses an advantage in the recreational market. Within nine months after the law’s enactment, regulators would have to start issuing adult use licenses to applicants who are qualified and operate medical cannabis operations.
• The division will also have to issue 50 adult-use retail licenses, and 40 recreational cultivator licences. This is “with preference given to applicants who are participating in the cannabis social equality and jobs program.” It would also authorize regulators to grant additional licenses for recreational market after two years.
• Municipalities could opt not to allow new recreational cannabis businesses to open in their region, but existing medical marijuana companies would still be allowed to operate in the same area. Employers can also enforce policies that prohibit workers from using cannabis for adult purposes.
• The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services would also be required to enter into a contract with regulators to provide “cannabis-addiction services” which would include “education and treatment of individuals with addiction issues related either to cannabis or to other controlled substances, including opioids.”
• Some advocates worry about the lack specific language regarding automatic expungements, which would clear the records for people who have convictions from crimes that would become legal under the new legislation. The measure includes a clause requiring regulators “to study and fund” criminal reform initiatives, including expungements.

Paul Armentano, NORML’s Deputy Director, said that “Cannabis Legalization is a topic that unites Democrats and Republicans as well as Independents.” Ohioans know that similar legalization laws have been adopted in neighboring state and they are aware of the fact that regulating cannabis is better than the failed prohibition policy. It is important that elected officials implement the measure in a way that reflects the feelings of the majority.

Ohio’s measure was passed after a long and complicated process that involved activists in the courts, legislature and on the ballot.

The organizers first tried to put the measure on the 2022 state ballot but procedural issues prevented this. The organizers submitted enough signatures for a legislative review, but their timing was challenged.

CTRMLA sued to force ballot placement but was unsuccessful in 2022. The state did agree to a settlement which meant that supporters wouldn’t have to collect a second round of signatures and the initiative would immediately be re-transmitted to lawmakers at the beginning of the 2023 session.

The state officials announced that the initiative would appear on the November ballot in Ohio. The state officially certified the signatures in August after advocates collected the rest of the signatures. The Ohio Ballot Board drafted the summary language in August.

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In recent months, polls consistently show majority support for reform. One survey conducted last month revealed that 59% of respondents intended to vote YES on Issue 2 while 39% opposed it.

A new poll conducted among likely voters last month showed that 57% supported legalization, including a small majority of Republicans.

In a survey of 35 state legislators, it was found that majorities among Democrats (63%) and Republicans (52%), regardless of their personal opinions, expected voters to approve.

While Ohio lawmakers may have expected that the initiative would pass, some Republican elected officials did not want it to. The GOP-controlled Senate, which was in control of the Senate at the time early voting began late last month and urged residents to reject Measure , passed a resolution as early voting started.

What happens in the next legislative session remains to be determined. Last month, Senate President Matt Huffman said that would be “coming back to this body” so that lawmakers could amend. Huffman clarified later that he would not seek to repeal the plan in its entirety, but instead advocate for “reviewing it and repealing or changing things within it.”

In September, a number of Ohio legislators said that they did not believe the legislature would repeal a legalization law passed by voters.

Both sides increased their messaging and voter turnout efforts as the elections approached. The yes campaign sent cease-and-desist letters last month to television stations that were airing opposition ads, which organizers described as “filled with lies.” CTRMLA also released a pro Issue 2 election ad.

The yes campaign released another ad last month that mocks Ohio, from the perspective of an adjacent Michigan town, for losing tax revenues when Ohioans drive outside state borders to purchase marijuana at licensed stores.

The advertisement was released just days after a recent economic analysis revealed that Issue 2 could produce net benefits of around $260,000,000 to the state annually.

The report stated that “our simulation model indicates that recreational marijuana legalization in 90% of scenarios will have a net positive economic benefit for society.” Modeling also predicted “extremely negative results are more probable than extremely positive results.”

Researchers at Ohio State University published a separate study in August that found that the change would generate $404 million annually in tax revenue.

Attorney General Dave Yost, (R), , published an analysis of the initiative . He said that it is intended to give voters “vital transparency and clarity” in a campaign marked by “inflamed” and “inaccurate” rhetoric.

In spite of the GOP-led Resolution, other Republicans in Ohio are divided on this issue. Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has stated that “it would not be wise for us to have recreational cannabis.” He added that he had visited Colorado in 2012 after its legalization and seen what he called an “unmitigated catastrophe.”

In September, Rep Dave Joyce, the co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and a top Republican state legislator, announced that he will vote in favor of this initiative in November. He encouraged “all Ohio citizens to take part and have their voices heard in this important issue.”

Sherrod BROWN (D-OH), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said that he voted for the ballot initiative to legalize marijuana. He called it a hard decision but one based on the belief that this reform would promote consumer “safety”.

Ohio voters rejected the 2015 measure on 64-36, which would have changed the state constitution to legalize pot and give the control of the market a small group producers. The organizers of the current campaign claim that they have learned lessons from the failure when crafting the current initiative.

In May , bipartisan Ohio legislators submitted a separate bill for legalizing marijuana. This gave the legislature a second chance to lead the reform.

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Photo by Philip Steffan.

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