Six-Month Measure Needed to Evaluate Issue, City Officials Say. MIAMISBURG - Miamisburg is moving to become the latest Miami Valley community to place a temporary ban on medical marijuana. The city is considering a six-month ban on issuing and processing "any permits allowing retail dispensaries, cultivators, or processors of marijuana" in the city, according to a proposed ordinance. Last month Beavercreek City Council approved a similar measure while Troy voted in favor of a 180-day moratorium. Those cities' actions and the measure before Miamisburg City Council tonight follow Gov. John Kasich's signing in June of a bill that allows medical marijuana to be prescribed for certain ailments. [continues 287 words]
Ohio Supreme Court Board Asked to Weigh In. Attorneys are asking whether Ohio's new medical marijuana law that bars employers from disciplining professionals from working with marijuana businesses applies to them. Lawyers have submitted at least two requests for formal opinions on the matter to the state Supreme Court's Board of Professional Conduct. Only the state's high court can discipline licensed attorneys. Attorneys want to know whether lawyers can use medical marijuana, own or operate medical marijuana businesses and represent marijuana cultivators, processors, dispensaries, patients and caregivers. The new medical marijuana law bars professional license holders from being disciplined "solely for engaging in professional or occupational activities related to medical marijuana." [continues 208 words]
Proposal Scrapped Over Concerns About Burden on the State. COLUMBUS (AP) - A legislative proposal to regulate medical marijuana through Ohio's pharmacy board was scrapped Tuesday over concerns the rare setup nationally would create an undue burden on the state. Republican Sen. David Burke, a Marysville pharmacist behind the idea, called the arrangement the most responsible way to oversee marijuana as medicine. He said changes introduced in the Senate Government Oversight Committee on Tuesday were needed to strike a workable compromise. [continues 465 words]
Advocates Say Supervised Facilities Can Save Lives. Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 411 words]
Society Goes From Racist Approach to Empathy. The Rev. Mike Starks witnessed the destruction of crack cocaine, but not from the sidelines - he was a self-described gangster and drug addict before he became a minister. The Akron community activist recalls authorities responding to the epidemic, which is said to have lasted from 1984 to the early 1990s, with the all-out War on Drugs. Lawmakers enacted mandatory prison sentences for dealers. Stories in the media blamed addicts for their choices and told of gang-ravaged inner cities. [continues 865 words]
More than a token, but something short of tokin': That's the Ohio General Assembly's task in trying to craft a bill legalizing Ohioans' use of medical marijuana. The science may or may not be there, at least not entirely. But what looks like a public consensus seems to be. And that consensus is that marijuana's chemical components can help Ohioans fighting certain illnesses or enduring, say, chemotherapy. Pending in a House committee is House Bill 523, a bipartisan medical marijuana plan sponsored by Reps. Stephen Huffman of Tipp City and Kirk Schuring of Canton, both Republicans, and Dan Ramos, a Lorain Democrat. Huffman's a physician. He earned his medical degree at the Medical College of Ohio (now the University of Toledo's College of Medicine and Life Sciences). Among those praising the House for taking up the medical marijuana issue: Sen. Kenny Yuko, a Richmond Heights Democrat, a longtime proponent of medical marijuana. [continues 461 words]
Patients, Caregivers Say Pending Ohio Bill Has Numerous Flaws. Even if Ohio lawmakers act swiftly on pending legislation to legalize pot as medicine, Ohioans for Medical Marijuana leaders on Wednesday said they'll keep pushing to put a constitutional amendment before voters this fall. Patients and caregivers said that the bill pending in the Ohio House doesn't go far enough to protect them against losing jobs, will take too long to implement, prohibits home grow and fails to provide a concrete list of ailments that would qualify someone to get medical marijuana. [continues 474 words]
Second Group Gets Go-Ahead to Gather Signatures for Ballot. COLUMBUS - A second grassroots group got the go-ahead on Thursday to circulate petitions to put a medical marijuana question before voters in November while lawmakers released more details of their plan. The Ohio Ballot Board certified the "Medicinal Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Amendment," clearing the way for GrassrootsOhioans to collect 305,591 valid voter signatures by July 6 to qualify for the November ballot. Another group, Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, is already in the field collecting signatures to get its proposed constitutional amendment on the fall ballot. [continues 213 words]
Ohio Ballot Board Gives Go-Ahead to Secure Names Before Election. A skeptical Ohio Ballot Board on Thursday gave supporters of a medical marijuana constitutional amendment the go-ahead to begin collecting signatures for the fall election. The board, with only three members present, voted 3-0 to approve the proposal by the Marijuana Policy Project, a national organization working with Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, a state affiliate. The group must gather 305,591 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters to put the issue on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. [continues 239 words]
Measure Could Appear Before Ohio Voters in November. COLUMBUS - Backers of a medical marijuana legalization measure cleared the initial hurdle in the process of placing an issue on the statewide ballot. National group Marijuana Policy Project and its Ohio political action committee Ohioans for Medical Marijuana want to legalize marijuana use for certain medical conditions, with approval from a physician, through a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on Friday certified the group's petition summary as a "fair and truthful" summary of the proposed law. DeWine rejected the group's initial petition language, and revised language included additional medical conditions that would qualify a person to use marijuana. [continues 251 words]
Ohio may once again debate the pros and cons of marijuana this year, but not in the same context as in 2015. This time around, many believe it will focus on the medicinal use of marijuana and that use only. Currently there is talk about two different groups that may bring the medical marijuana issue into play for Ohioans. First the legislature, both House and Senate, is taking up this issue this spring and summer. Each is asking for both citizen and business input as to the merits of medical marijuana use in Ohio, and if there are any particular concerns either of those two constituencies have if our state's elected leaders should decide to pass some form of medical-related legislation. [continues 503 words]
A report in Harper's magazine is getting attention for a theory on how the so-called war on drugs began during the Nixon administration. Reporter Dan Baum looks at the origins of the policy, and offers a bizarre quote fromJohn Erlichman, Nixon's domestic policy adviser. Harper's editor, Ellen Rosenbush, writes that Erlichman told Baum the Nixon team cooked up the war on drugs to discredit groups who disagreed with it - African-Americans and young protestors: "'Did we know we were lying about the drugs?' Ehrlichman told Baum in 1994. 'Of course we did.' The Nixon White House thought of the antiwar left and black people as enemies. 'But by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.'" Hmmm. Your thoughts? Email rrollins@coxohio. com. [end]
Nancy Reagan's recent death was a reminder of the shallow moralizing of the Just Say No anti-drug campaign she once championed. Thankfully, attitudes have changed. We're more attuned to the fact that untreated mental health issues often are a precursor to drug use. Nancy's slogan won't help much there. Most people realize that the war on drugs, begun under President Richard Nixon, has failed. And there's growing public awareness that we've let our jails and prisons become warehouses for people who need treatment - and who needed it long before they took a criminal turn. [continues 417 words]
Attorney General Mike DeWine has, for a fourth time, rejected one group's effort to get a medical marijuana question on Ohio's ballot. DeWine said Friday he found at least 11 defects in the latest constitutional amendment proposed by the group Ohio Medical Cannabis Care LLC. He says the summary language states that persons over the age of 21 must obtain a registration card or certificate from the group to grow medical marijuana, sometimes called cannabis. But the amendment itself says all patients over the age of 21 "possess the right to grow medical cannabis." His office found the summary and full text contained other inconsistent statements. DeWine's earlier rejections were in July, October and January. [end]
Attorney General Noted 3 Errors in the Proposal. A medical marijuana ballot proposal aiming for the November election was dealt a setback Friday when Attorney General Mike DeWine rejected the petition. The Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington, D.C., submitted its petition March 3. The group would have to gather 305,291 signatures of registered voters to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall. The national organization is working through an Ohio affiliate, Ohioans for Medical Marijuana. After examining the wording of the proposal, DeWine rejected it because of three errors, including a confusion about the number of medical marijuana cultivation facilities. He also found fault with a provision that would prevent marijuana users from being penalized for "operating a motor vehicle, aircraft, train, or motorboat while impaired by marijuana." There was also a mistake about the date for obtaining a valid medical marijuana registration card. [continues 97 words]
Issues Proposed for Ballot; Legislative Study Underway. The push to legalize marijuana isn't going away in Ohio. Two medical-marijuana issues are proposed for the fall ballot, and the legislature is looking into legislation regarding potential medical uses for pot. While no one is pitching a for-profit plan for recreational marijuana, as ResponsibleOhio did before Ohio voters dumped it last fall, there might be openings in the new proposals to turn marijuana into cash. The Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C., group that has been instrumental in the passage of marijuana initiatives in other states, appears to have the proposal with the best organization and funding behind it. If approved, the initiative would allow about 215,000 patients with qualifying medical conditions to use marijuana as prescribed by a doctor; permit patients to grow marijuana for their own use, or buy it from retail dispensaries; restrict the use of marijuana in public places or while driving; and create a state Medical Marijuana Control Division to oversee the system. Ohio would join 23 other states with medical marijuana laws or amendments in place. [continues 494 words]
Opponents Say It's Time to Focus on Recovery. As seizure rates and heroin-related deaths spike in Ohio, some lawmakers want stricter punishments for drug dealers. But others argue that focusing on dealers simply perpetuates a failed 40-year-long War on Drugs policy, and it's time to focus on recovery for addicts. House Bill 171 would allow an individual to be labeled a "major drug offender" for carrying 100 grams of heroin - down from the current 250 grams. The bill passed the House last year 82-16 and is now in Senate committee hearings. [continues 331 words]
Prosecutors dismissed the first of what could be many more drug cases tossed because they involved a police detective accused of selling seized drugs who hanged himself in jail early Monday. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said his office was auditing the cases in which Reynoldsburg Officer Tye L. Downard participated as a Reynoldsburg officer or as a member of the county's drug task force from 2013 until now. So far, investigators have found 50 cases, O'Brien said. [continues 301 words]
Reynoldsburg Cop Worked With Drug Task Force. A Reynoldsburg police detective who has worked for years with the county's drug task force was arrested on federal charges that he used his connections to deal drugs, including drugs that might have been taken from what was seized by his police division. The arrest, officials say, could affect nearly 50 cases that now must be reviewed. Tye L. Downard, 43, of Westerville, was taken into custody on Thursday on charges that accuse him of carrying out more than 20 drug deliveries to another person since October, involving heroin, cocaine, marijuana and Percocet pills. He is charged with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of controlled substances. He was in the Delaware County jail Thursday night. [continues 87 words]
Group Has Trouble Raising Funds to Get Measure on Ballot. COLUMBUS (AP) - A group that had gathered signatures to put a marijuana legalization proposal before Ohio voters this year said that effort is on hold after it had trouble fundraising for the campaign. The Legalize Ohio 2016 campaign instead plans to partner with other advocates on efforts to legalize medical marijuana and to reduce criminal penalties for having marijuana, Cleveland.com reported. Its political action committee, Ohioans to End Prohibition, reported having only $268 at the end of last month. The roughly 80,000 signatures it had collected don't expire and could be used to qualify for a future ballot. [continues 164 words]
Goal Is to Get Funds to Collect Valid Voter Signatures. A team of veteran political operatives put out a 22-page proposal that offers up its political talent to help weed business interests with deep pockets take a run at putting a medical marijuana question before Ohio voters in November. Calling itself ARC Reaction, the group includes Democrat Aaron Pickrell, who was a senior policy adviser in the Strickland administration, Republican Mike Hartley, who served as a senior staffer in the Kasich administration, and Democrat Steven Stenberg, a Washington, D.C.-based direct mail and political strategist. [continues 240 words]
Ohio Group Faces Spring Deadline to Complete Work. COLUMBUS (AP) - Members of a task force charged with exploring medical marijuana legalization in Ohio expressed a willingness to learn more about the issue as the panel met briefly for the first time on Thursday. Many task force participants at the Statehouse meeting said they would keep an open mind, though some acknowledged their biases. "I do come to this room with the very strong feeling that we need a very well thought-out medical marijuana program," said Jimmy Gould, a founding member of a marijuana legalization initiative that voters rejected last fall. [continues 268 words]
Group Wants Issue on Fall Ballot. Push Won't Wait to See What State Lawmakers Do. COLUMBUS (AP) - A group hoping to put a marijuana legalization issue on Ohio's ballot this fall says it won't wait to see if state lawmakers act on medical marijuana and will push ahead with its proposal despite the failure of a separate effort in November. Jacob Wagner, the cofounder of Ohioans to End Prohibition, said in an interview Friday that his organization remains focused on gathering the more than 305,000 valid signatures needed by July to get its "Cannabis Control Amendment" before voters in the presidential election year. [continues 428 words]
Ohio House GOP Announces 14-Member Marijuana Task Force. COLUMBUS - Doctors, lawmakers, business owners, cops and advocates for legal pot will serve together on a medical marijuana task force and report back to the Ohio House later this year. House Republicans announced the 14-member task force on Thursday at the Ohio Statehouse. State Rep. J. Kirk Schuring, R-Canton, will serve as chairman of the effort. Included on the panel are attorney Chris Stock and businessman Jimmy Gould, who were major players in the failed Issue 3 campaign last year. [continues 429 words]
Hearings Across the State to Gauge Ohioans' Feelings. COLUMBUS - Ohio voters convincingly rejected the marijuana-legalization proposal on November's ballot, but state lawmakers will explore the possibility of allowing the use of pot for medical purposes only. Multiple polls have shown strong support for the concept of medical marijuana. The Ohio Senate and House will announce as early as this week a series of bipartisan hearings across the state to gauge Ohioans' feelings on what that system might look like. [continues 588 words]
At Least Four Groups Are Now Pursuing Future Ballot Initiatives. COLUMBUS - The good ole-fashioned butt-kicking Ohio voters delivered to ResponsibleOhio Tuesday won't scare off pro-pot forces from trying again. No less than four marijuana groups are talking about or circulating petitions to get on the statewide ballot, some as early as next year. Even ResponsibleOhio vows to return with another proposal to present to voters. Jacob Wagner of LegalizeOhio2016, one of the four groups, said the defeat of Issue 3 cleared the decks for a cleaner, less controversial marijuana legalization plan. [continues 1363 words]
Issue 3 - the proposed Ohio marijuana monopoly - suffered a jaw-dropping loss Tuesday. But that doesn't mean another Issue 3-like ballot issue won't surface again, maybe as soon as next year. That's despite such startling facts as the rejection of Issue 3 in all 88 counties, even party-hearty Athens. Likewise, the Western Reserve's liberal citadel, Oberlin, voted against Issue 3. For that matter, Issue 3 failed to carry one of the four precincts in tie-dyed Yellow Springs. [continues 548 words]
Many races, issues to be decided today. Statewide issues and local races on the ballot are expected to draw thousands of voters in Clark and Champaign counties to the polls Tuesday. More than 4,400 voters in Clark County and more than 1,400 voters in Champaign County have cast absentee ballots since early voting began Oct. 6, board of elections officials said Monday. Clark County Board of Elections Director Matthew Tlachac projects that less than 50 percent of Clark County's more than 85,700 registered voters will cast ballots Tuesday. But that percentage could be impacted by expected high interest in the statewide marijuana issues. [continues 342 words]
Claims About Registration Forms Sent to Prosecutor. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted Friday sent details about potential voter registration fraud by ResponsibleOhio to the Delaware County prosecutor for possible legal action. Husted said in a letter to Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O'Brien that voter registration forms submitted by The Strategy Network, the company owned by Ian James, executive director of ResponsibleOhio, appear to include "potential violations of election laws." The action resulted from an independent inquiry started by the Delaware County Board of Elections of "petition and voter registration irregularities" in ResponsibleOhio's signature-gathering campaign to get the marijuana legalization amendment on the fall ballot. Voters will decide State Issue 3 on Tuesday. [continues 152 words]
Tactics for Opponents, Supporters Differ Greatly in Campaign for Marijuana Legalization Columbus - One side is spending money, the other side - for the most part - isn't. One side has the backing of some 100 organizations, while the other side boasts the star power of people like former boy band singer Nick Lachey. One side is banking on a strong turnout of young people while the other side hopes it can sway voters with warnings of the potential harm done to young people. [continues 1080 words]
Children and Edible Marijuana We urge Ohioans to vote "No" on State Issue 3, which would grant monopoly rights for the production and sale of marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes in Ohio. It is the worst public policy proposal we have seen in more than 30 years of public service and leadership in drug abuse prevention in our state. Most alarming about Issue 3 is the threat to our children and youth. It legalizes the sale of marijuana-infused products like cookies, brownies and gummy bears which are inviting to children and have led to severe problems in those states which allow recreational marijuana. According to Children's Hospital Colorado, admissions of children under the age of 12 who ingested edible marijuana spiked sharply in 2014; use by youth ages 12 to 17 in Colorado ranks 56 percent higher than the national average, according to law enforcement reports. [continues 195 words]
Issue 3 to Benefit Sick, Shut Down Ohio Drug Dealers. Now is the time to legalize marijuana in Ohio. According to a Quinnipiac poll conducted earlier this month, the majority of Ohioans support legalization. Ninety percent of Ohioans support the legalization of medical marijuana and 53 percent of Ohioans support legalizing marijuana for adult, personal use. Despite such positive public opinion, our state lawmakers have continuously failed to act on marijuana reform for the past 18 years. Since 1997, there has been legislation at the Statehouse to address medical marijuana for the chronically ill. And even as people continue to suffer and 9 out of 10 of us agree on providing compassionate care to sick Ohioans, lawmakers refuse to act. [continues 676 words]
Issue 3 to Hinder Law Enforcement, Ohio Employers. Few proposed constitutional amendments have been more at odds with common-sense public policy than Issue 3. Its problems are varied, but Issue 3 starts by putting Ohio law in direct conflict with federal law, creating a legal quagmire on multiple fronts. Issue 3 would create problems for Ohio peace officers, who sign an oath to support state and federal laws. If it were to pass, marijuana would be legal in Ohio but illegal under federal law. That's the quandary they would face. [continues 655 words]
More than 300 people showed up for a public forum on Issue 3 recently conducted by Cox Media Group Ohio and the League of Women Voters at Sinclair Community College. Here are some of the questions from the audience, answered by our Statehouse reporter Laura Bischoff Q: Will the cost of marijuana be determined and will it be as cheap as it is in the street now? How much of the cost will be decided by the government? A: The market will determine the retail cost of legal marijuana. Legal manufacturers and product makers will pay a 15 percent flat tax and retailers will pay a five percent tax, plus other applicable business taxes. As a result, black market prices may still undercut the legal market prices. But buyers may be willing to pay a slightly higher price to know that it's legal and the product has been tested for safety, quality and potency. [continues 914 words]
Backers of Legalized Pot: Villains Would Be Out of Business. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said his three-day trip to Colorado to learn about marijuana legalization there has him worried about what legalization could mean for Ohio and its children. DeWine, who was in Dayton on Tuesday, said he visited with law enforcement, doctors and citizens in Colorado. "People I talked to said, 'Don't make the same mistake that we made in Colorado,'" said DeWine, who is opposed to Issue 3, a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would legalize marijuana for people 21 and older. [continues 273 words]
'Tough on crime' doesn't help: From Lauren-Brooke Eisen, at MSNBC.com. We have been through this before as a nation - during the crack epidemic of the late '80s and early '90s, and the previous heroin crisis of the '70s - and we have valuable lessons to draw upon when approaching today's challenge. One lesson is that the reactionary "tough on crime" rhetoric led us astray. It resulted in policymakers enacting ineffective and overly punitive drug policies, many of which resulted from knee-jerk reactions to media sensationalism of crime or political opportunism. [continues 2329 words]
Pretty much everybody from Barack Obama to Carly Fiorina seems to agree that far too many Americans are stuck behind bars. And pretty much everybody seems to have the same explanation for how this destructive era of mass incarceration came about. First, the war on drugs got out of control, meaning that many nonviolent people wound up in prison. Second, mandatoryminimum sentencing laws led to a throw-away-thekey culture, with long and pointlessly destructive prison terms. It's true that mass incarceration is a horrific problem. Back in the 1970s the increase in incarceration did help reduce the crime [continues 441 words]
People are talking about Ohio's marijuana legalization issue. From reader Jim Armstrong: "Issue 3 isn't that troubling, that will be an up or down vote. That the powers that be would try to undermine that vote by putting up another issue to stop a monopoly from being able to be in the state constitution - where was the indignation when they gave away the gambling monopoly?" From reader Tom Davis: "1) Alcohol is the gateway drug. 2) If no one is being harmed by using pot, why is it illegal? What about personal liberties? 3) It should be illegal for minors. Their minds aren't developed enough. 4) Employers should treat marijuana just like alcohol. You can't drink on the job, so what makes employers think employees will do marijuana on the job? It makes it sound as if people are stupid and can't control themselves." [end]
COLUMBUS - While campaigning for legal pot through Issue 3, ResponsibleOhio took steps Tuesday to pass a law that would allow Ohioans with marijuana convictions to go to court to get their records expunged. ResponsibleOhio submitted 236,759 signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State for a citizen initiated statute called the Fresh Start Act. A little less than 92,000 valid voter signatures are needed to put the proposed law before the Ohio General Assembly next year. [continues 542 words]
Business at SEATTLE, WASH.- Uncle Ike's Pot Shop is buzzing as nine "budtenders" help customers pick out weed, candies, bongs and more while another dozen people stand in line and flip through "menus." "I can help the next guest down here," an employee shouts out. Open for just under a year, Uncle Ike's already has 30 employees, a taco food truck in the parking lot, a glass and goods satellite shop and $1.5 million in monthly sales, according to Kenji Hobbs, the night manager. [continues 2136 words]
ResponsibleOhio Objects to Ballot Board Summary on Issue 3. COLUMBUS - The latest round in a high-stakes fight over marijuana legalization landed in the Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday when ResponsibleOhio accused the Ballot Board of deliberately crafting a summary of State Issue 3 to "mislead, deceive or defraud the voters." In a 139-page filing, ResponsibleOhio attorneys Larry James and Andy Douglas said the issue summary language approved by the ballot board last week on a 3-2 vote is "fatally defective through false and material omissions, inaccuracies, and argumentative language." [continues 443 words]
Law Enforcement Officials: Impairment Rules Need to Be Set. The campaign to legalize marijuana in Ohio has raised fears about an increase in people driving under the influence, despite assurances from supporters of Issue 3 that other states that have legalized marijuana have not seen a dramatic increase in accidents. Passage of the issue on the statewide ballot in November would allow anyone over the age of 21 to buy and use marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes. Law enforcement is voicing the loudest concerns about drugged driving. [continues 628 words]
State Voters Consider Tax Revenues, Addiction Issues and Monopolies. COLUMBUS- University of Dayton junior George Cleary said he didn't vote in the last presidential election or last year's election but will vote this year because marijuana legalization is on the ballot. "I think it should pass not only for the taxes but for the government - - what they'll be able to make and put back into the system," he said. ResponsibleOhio, the group of deep-pocket investors and savvy political consultants that succeeded in getting pot legalization on the November ballot, is counting on young people like Cleary - an inconsistent voting group in past elections - to turn out in numbers that help push the issue over the top. [continues 1488 words]
Coalition Plans Monday Kickoff. Faction to Include Medical, Business and Faith Groups. Children are likely to be a big part of the campaigns both for and against marijuana legalization in Ohio. The location of Monday's 2 p.m. campaign kickoff by a coalition opposing ResponsibleOhio's for-profit legalization plan is a giveaway: Nationwide Children's Hospital. While slow in developing, the still-forming coalition is touted as farreaching by state Rep. Mike Curtin, D-Marble Cliff, a militant opponent of ResponsibleOhio's plan to make marijuana legal for personal consumption and medicinal use. [continues 256 words]
Ballot Threshold for Legalization Initiative May Have Been Hit. This newspaper's tally of nearly half of the new petitions turned in by ResponsibleOhio shows backers of a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana in Ohio likely will exceed the threshold required to place the issue on the November ballot. A survey of 13 of Ohio's 88 county boards of election - including five of the largest - found they had validated 42 percent of the new signatures of registered voters turned in by the pro-legalization group ResponsibleOhio. [continues 514 words]
Living in the United States is an amazing experience. We have unlimited opportunities to achieve success while being allowed to exist in a free nation. The first amendment gives us the right to say and write anything we wish and we can move freely cross our 50 states as we please. Having said that, I feel we are slowly having our rights taken from us. We are not as free as our grandparents who lived here 100 years ago. Our lawmakers have made the concern for our safety more important than our personal rights. They make laws for our own good, and maybe to an extreme. [continues 423 words]
ResponsibleOhio Needs 29,509 Valid Signatures to Get Issue on Ballot. COLUMBUS - The campaign to legalize marijuana in Ohio turned in more than 95,500 supplemental petition signatures on Thursday in a last push to make the statewide ballot in November. ResponsibleOhio needs 305,591 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters. Election officials ruled that the campaign had 276,082 valid signatures in the first batch, leaving it 29,509 short. ResponsibleOhio hopes to make up the shortfall with the 95,572 signatures submitted Thursday. [continues 142 words]
Validity Rates Fall Short in Major Metro Areas. An Ohio marijuana legalization issue may fall initially short of the number of signatures required to qualify for the fall ballot. Spot checks by The Dispatch with the Franklin County Board of Elections and boards in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo showed an overall validity rate of less than 42 percent so far for signatures submitted by ResponsibleOhio, the organization pushing a for-profit plan to legalize marijuana for personal and medicinal use. None of the five boards contacted is done with the validation process, which must be completed by July 16. [continues 203 words]
Voters May See Two Competing Issues on November's Ballot. Ohio voters may face competing issues on the ballot in November - one to legalize marijuana and another to block the pot plan and any attempts to install a monopoly into the state constitution. The Ohio House voted 8112 on Wednesday in favor of a resolution to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that could make the voter results of a proposed pot ballot issue moot. State Rep. Mike Curtin, DMarble Cliff, the resolution's co-sponsor, said it'll guard against political operators using the citizen initiative process to create constitutionally-sanctioned monopolies for business interests. [continues 349 words]
Resolution to Make It Harder to Change Ohio Constitution. COLUMBUS - Lawmakers in the Ohio House on Tuesday advanced a move to block marijuana legalization and thwart other business interests in "hijacking" the state constitution for their own profit. The House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee voted 92 in favor of a resolution that would put a constitutional amendment before Ohio voters in November to make it more difficult for commercial interests to change the state constitution. The resolution is crafted to block a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for medical and personal use that is also headed for the November ballot. [continues 223 words]
