The Ohio Senate President says he supports the Governor’s plan for certain changes to , the state’s marijuana legalization law that was approved by voters before the first provisions go into effect in early January. The House GOP leader appears to be in disagreement with that timeline.
Matt Huffman, Senate President (R), has not yet announced what amendments he will propose. However, he stated on Wednesday that he agrees with Governor. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said that lawmakers need to act quickly in order to update the statute law before December 7, when possession and cultivation will be legal.
Huffman, on Wednesday, said: “It is kind of like all hands on deck.”
Speaker Jason Stephens, R, said on the House side this week that that he does not see the need to hurry the process of amending cannabis law . This is especially true when you consider that the kinds of amendments the leadership is discussing — such as possible changes to tax revenue distribution– won’t be in play until at least nine month as regulators establish rules for the marijuana programme.
Huffman said journalists that people have “a lot of suggestions” when it comes to tax revenue distribution.
Rep. Cindy Abrams, a Republican House member from the state of Georgia (R), introduced a bill to dedicate $40 million annually in cannabis taxes for law enforcement training.
The Statehouse News Bureau reported that Senate Minority leader Nickie Antonio, a Democrat, said that “there are certain things we can agree upon” in regards to the distribution of tax revenues. “We only have to take a closer look and have a further discussion.”
Antonio said Democrats may press for some revenue to be allocated to K-12 public schools, and that there is bipartisan interest to provide some funding for mental healthcare services to support first-responders with posttraumatic stress disorder (PSTD).
It seems that there is less urgency in the House, although the speaker said he believes lawmakers can “get some sort of agreement” bipartisanly. However, it is important to “look at the right deadlines for what’s most urgent to start the program where everyone knows the rules at the correct time.”
Stephens stated on Tuesday that putting together a law package in the next few days will be “a real challenge”. The Senate will only meet twice between now and December 7th, while the House of Representatives has four days in session to take action.
He said that “we want to respect the wishes of the voters.” He added that any possible changes to the law “do not have to be decided by the time the legal possession and home cultivation come into effect next month.” They can be decided “as we progress further along the line.”
House Minority leader Allison Russo, (D) , told the Cincinnati Enquirer the GOP’s proposed timeline is “certainly ambitious”, but “the General Assembly can move quickly when it wants to, and not when it does not.”
The top House Democrat said, “I would much rather have thoughtful policy if we are going to set some of these guardrails, than just do something quickly for the sake doing it.”
The governor has stated on numerous occasions that he wants to see revisions made before possession and cultivation are legalized next month. He has said that there shouldn’t be any surprises for voters, and that the revisions being discussed will still respect the “spirit of the reform”.
The Senate President and House Speaker have discussed their independent interest in amending ‘s cannabis law with an emphasis on THC limitations and tax policy. A spokesperson for the Senate GOP minority said the same thing, saying that the legislature may amend the statute “to clarify some questionable wording regarding THC limits,” and that “tax rates are a concern.”
Last week, the governor said that “the people of Ohio have made it clear they want legalized marijuana.”
He said: “We will make sure that they get it, but we also have to fulfill our responsibility towards all of the Ohioans, regardless of whether they voted in favor or against the bill…that we handle this responsibly, that we treat them with respect.” “And we do this, frankly, the Ohio Way.”
Rep. Casey Weinstein, who has been a champion of cannabis reform and has sponsored bipartisan legislation legalizing marijuana in Ohio, told Marijuana Moment that Ohioans “spoke loudly” at the polls.
“We value privacy. We value freedom. “We value freedom,” he said. “The leaders of the legislature should listen to the people and respect their will.”
Weinstein, in a recent interview, said that it was “a slap on the face” for Ohio voters to only get involved with setting the rules of legal marijuana after the ballot initiative forced the issue. They could have acted upon legislation he had filed in previous sessions.
He said: “I hope this teaches them that bills with overwhelming bipartisan support should be heard.”
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The Ohio Department of Commerce published a FAQ guide to inform residents about the new law, including the timeline for its implementation. Regulators have repeatedly stated that policies could change depending on the actions of the legislature.
The prohibitionist organizations who campaigned against Issue 2 are now determined to undermine the newly passed law. Some have even described plans to pressurize the legislature into repealing legalization completely before it is implemented.
In September, several Ohio legislators said that they did not believe the legislature would attempt to repeal a legalization law passed by voters.
The issue was only decided by the voters after the lawmakers refused to use the opportunity of passing their own reform during the ballot qualification procedure. The legislature had months to pass a legalization they could have tailored to address any outstanding concerns. However, the voters were ultimately left to decide by default.
The governor, for his part has said that “it would be an absolute mistake” if we had recreational marijuana. He also added that he visited Colorado in 2012 after its legalization and saw “an unmitigated catastrophe.”
The GOP-controlled Senate, which was responsible for the early voting that began late last month urged residents to reject Measure .
Rep. Dave Joyce, the co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus said in September he’d vote in favor of this initiative in November. He urged “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”.
Vivek RAMASWAMY, a Republican presidential candidate for 2024, has said that he voted against the ballot initiative to legalize cannabis in Ohio, because he is concerned the federal government will “weaponize criminalization” against people who engage in state-legal marijuana activities under the “fake pretense” that they are protected from federal prosecution.
Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (DNY) said that Ohio’s decision to legalize cannabis at the ballot was just one of many recent examples of Americans rejecting “MAGA extremeism.” He added that he is committed to working on a bipartisan level “to continue moving forward on bipartisan marijuana legislation as soon we can.”
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-OR, co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus told Marijuana Moment in a recent interview that the vote in Ohio “was a big exclamation mark on the things we have been talking about.”
We’ve been stating for years that this issue is gaining momentum and has a broad appeal. He said that it was similar to the success of the [Ohio] abortion rights issue, except this was more pronounced. “We received more votes than abortion.” “We get more votes than anyone on the ballot.”
The White House said separately that “nothing has changed” with President Joe Biden’s stance on cannabis. They declined to state if they supported Ohio’s decision to legalize marijuana this week, or if they supported further reforms of federal cannabis laws.
According to preliminary results of county elections, while Ohio voters approved the statewide legalization of marijuana, activists scored a number of small victories to criminalize higher amounts of cannabis in 3 Ohio cities.
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Photo by Mike Latimer.
The post Ohio Republican Senate Leader Says “All Hands on Deck” To Change Voter Approved Marijuana Law before Legalization Takes Place Next Month first appeared on Marijuana Minute.
