After failing to reach the required number of signatures in their previous submission, Ohio activists submitted a final round of signatures in order to place a marijuana legalization measure on the ballot in November. The new batch contains more than 6,000 signatures added to the petition. A GOP congressman told Marijuana Moment that he would have signed the petition in order for voters to decide the reform.
After a review of the signatures, officials announced last week that there were only 679 valid signs left after a verification check. The campaign then had a 10-day period to close the gap.
The advocates are confident that the 6,545 signatures they submitted on Thursday will make up for the shortfall. They now have to wait until county and state officials confirm that the signatures they received were valid.
Tom Haren said, “This submission confirms what we have said all along. Regulating marijuana is popular in Ohio.” We’re excited to give Ohio voters the chance to have their voices heard on the ballot in this fall.
Rep. Dave Joyce, R-OH, co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and currently in Ohio on a district-work period told Marijuana Moment Wednesday that he would “sign the petition” for voters to decide on legalization. The campaign submitted the signatures before the deadline of Friday.
Last year, the congressman said to Marijuana Moment that he was not sure of his vote and that he would “like to know what exactly” the measure is. He also noted that he has worked to encourage the state legislatures to address the matter.
He said, “You either have to be in charge, set rules and regulations everyone can live by, or don’t complain about getting something you didn’t ask for.”
Joyce avoided answering directly a question in March about his vote on the Ohio legalization bill, saying he hadn’t seen it.
He said, “Until I see it in front of my face I won’t comment on what I will vote on.”
The Ohio campaign turned in a second batch of signatures to the state last month, which was a larger number.
The first round of petitions, submitted in the past year, would have triggered a four month legislative review period, during which lawmakers could have taken action on the issue. But they did not, and the campaign was able to collect the second half needed to qualify for the ballot.
The legalization initiative was originally intended to be on the ballot for last year, but procedural issues prevented this. The activists submitted enough signatures for the review to begin, but their timing was questioned.
CTRMLA sued to force ballot placement but was unsuccessful in 2022. The state agreed to a settlement which meant that they would not need to collect the initial signatures a second time and that the initiative was immediately retransmitted by the legislature to begin the 2023 session.
These are the main provisions of the measure for legalization that could appear on the ballot in November:
- This initiative will allow adults over 21 to possess up to 2.5 ounces (or 15 grams) of marijuana. They can also possess up to 1.5 grams of marijuana concentrates.
- 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 even if adult-use operations were to be added. 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 an agreement 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.
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The federal-state cannabis policy divide will grow even wider if the measure passes. Joyce said to Marijuana Moment that the state movement was the reason Congress should pass , a bipartisan measure he introduced with House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffreys (D-NY), to prepare the federal governments for the end of prohibition. This would include an examination state regulatory models.
He said: “As the states continue to examine the merits and benefits of legalization, federal government must respond by providing a framework which supports the states rather than one that continues to violate the rights of the states.” “My bill with Leader Jeffries, the PREPARE Act will do that.”
In a USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University survey published in July, it was found that about 59 percent (59%) of Ohioans supported the legalization of possession and sale of marijuana by adults over 21. Only 35 percent of respondents are against.
In May bipartisan Ohio legislators submitted a bill legalizing marijuana, giving the legislature a second chance to lead the reform. It has not yet advanced, but now it is up to the voters to decide.
Reps. Jamie Callender and Casey Weinstein introduced the Ohio Adult Use Act. The act combined and refined previous legalization proposals, which the lawmakers pursued on a separate political basis last session.
Callender, who had sponsored a separate law to tax and regulate marijuana for 2021, had previously cast doubts about the prospects of a legislative reform. He indicated that he believed this issue would be decided ultimately by the voters due to the recalcitrance on the part of the legislature.
Ohioans made it clear during recent elections that they are ready for a change in policy. More than 30 localities in Ohio have decriminalized marijuana through local ballots.
In November of last year, for instance, voters in five additional cities passed local marijuana decriminalization initiatives. voters in Helena also enacted reform during the May primary election.
The conservative legislature may have passed on the opportunity to legalize adult-use marijuana, but it considered major changes to the state’s Medical Cannabis Program during this session.
Also, Gov. Mike DeWine , a Republican, signed in January a criminal justice reform law that allows cities to facilitate mass expungements of people with drug-related convictions. This includes marijuana possession up to 200 grams.
The mayor of Cleveland announced in April, after the law became effective, that the city would be moving ahead with plans for sealing thousands of cannabis records.
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Photo by Philip Steffan.
The article Ohio activists turn in final signatures to put marijuana legalization on November ballot after falling short in prior submission first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
