Ohio Officials Approve Language for Marijuana Legalization Initiative that Will Be Before Voters in November

Ohio officials unanimously approved the ballot language for a marijuana legalization initiative that will be presented to voters in November.

The Ohio Ballot Board adopted a summary at a Thursday hearing. It was approved 5-0. This summary had been drafted by the Secretary of State’s Office, who recently certified that advocates had submitted enough valid signatures for ballot placement . The text was approved without discussion. At the meeting, neither supporters nor opponents spoke.

The text of the approved summary language for the initiative–designated as Issue 2–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.”

The document explains the creation of a Division of Cannabis Control to “regulate and investigate adult-use cannabis operators, adult-use testing laboratories and individuals who are required to be licensed”.

summarizes the initiatives’ impact, including how it would create a social justice program, protect identities of those who are involved in the adult market, allow employers and landlords to restrict cannabis use under certain conditions, protect financial institutions working with licensed marijuana businesses, and tax cannabis sales with the revenue going to different accounts.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which has submitted hundreds of thousand signatures in support of their legalization initiative over the last month, refused to send a letter to Secretary of State’s Office about the draft language before Thursday’s meeting.

In a press release issued after the meeting on Thursday, CRMLA spokesperson Tom Haren stated that “The unanimous approval of the bipartisan ballot committee should assure voters that they will get what they see.” “This means hundreds of millions in new revenue, and strict regulation similar to what we have already in place in our medical marijuana market.” We look forward to eliminating the illicit market in November.

Three batches of signatures were collected for the initiative. The first batch of signatures, which was submitted last year, would have triggered a 4-month review period by the legislature, during which they could have taken action on the issue. But they did not, and the campaign began collecting the second-half of the petitions needed to get the initiative to the ballot.

CTRMLA submitted another 220,000 valid signatures last month. However, officials determined they were still short 679 . The CTRMLA was given 10 days to complete the task. They succeeded in submitting thousands of additional signatures.

The legalization initiative was originally intended to be on the ballot last year, but complications in the process prevented this. The campaign submitted enough signatures for the review to begin, but their timing was challenged.

CTRMLA sued to force ballot placement but it was unsuccessful for the 2022 elections. The state agreed to a settlement which meant that they would not need to collect a second round of signatures and the initiative would immediately be 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 cannabis. They can also possess up to 15 gram 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”.
• 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 if they wanted to co-locate adult-use operations. 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.

, representing Ohio’s 112 health departments local, has become one of the most recent groups to speak out against. Ohio Children’s Hospital Association and Adolescent Health Association as well as some business and law enforcement groups are urging voters not to accept the reform.

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If this measure is passed, the number of states that have legalized adult use will reach 24.

The Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair, U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, (R-OH), told Marijuana Moment he personally intended to vote for the initiative in November.

A recent economic analysis found that Ohio’s tax revenue could reach up to 403.6 million dollars per year from the sale of adult-use marijuana, if voters approve a ballot initiative for legalization.

In a USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University survey published in July, it was found that about 59 percent (out of 159%) 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 reforming the legislation, indicating that he believed it would be up to the voters to decide the issue given 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, voters in five other cities also approved 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 Officials approve ballot language for marijuana legalization initiative that will go before voters in November first appeared on Marijuana Moment.