I am encouraged by The Blade's stand on Issue 3 and by your articles explaining the details of the possible pitfalls if Ohio voters approve the legalizing-marijuana issue ("Yes on Issue 2, No on 3," editorial, Oct. 11).

The issue has been crammed down our throats by ResponsibleOhio, which is a misnomer. Many responsible people agree that there are numerous reasons to question the wisdom of rushing into the unknown territory of long-term effects of marijuana use.

Unfortunately, the inclusion of legalizing medical marijuana will draw yes votes from those who do not see or care about the whole picture. That too is part of the scheme of ResponsibleOhio. I favor and hope for a bill legalizing medical marijuana as a separate issue. It should have been done that way in the first place.

If this controversial issue is passed, there is no turning back. Voters should not let Ohio go to pot.

Meadowwood Drive

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I am disturbed about the support some people express for legalizing marijuana, saying it would create jobs and help the economy and people's health.

I was director of student activities at the University of Toledo from 1967 to 1976, when the use of marijuana hit campus. The negative effects of marijuana use were noticeable.

A fraternity in one year went from 105 members to five, because many dropped out of school, grades were negatively affected, and what was normally a part of motivation to do well and get a degree went by the wayside.

Maumee

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When I hear about all the problems making marijuana legal would cause, I remember hearing the same refrain about casinos. Instead of problems, casinos have brought jobs and tax revenue to Ohio. Could legalizing marijuana do the same?

Maumee

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Why are people bothered that Issue 3 might create a monopoly? Why do people have no problem letting the money generated from the sale of marijuana go to drug cartels in other countries, but are concerned about legalizing marijuana and keeping the revenue in Ohio - even if it is a monopoly?

La Jolla Drive

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Powered by a small core of big-money investors, marijuana-legalization advocates outraised opponents 16-to-1 in the last campaign-finance reports filed before Election Day, Nov. 3.

ResponsibleOhio, the group backing state Issue 3, the marijuana-legalization amendment, reported having spent $15.4 million on the campaign, $12 million of that in the past three months. The group has been waging an all-out campaign dominated by 30-second television commercials and directmail advertising.

A report filed on Thursday with Secretary of State Jon Husted showed ResponsibleOhio receiving more than $11.9 million from July 1 to the Oct. 14 cutoff and spending about the same amount.

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The writer of the letter to the editor on marijuana leading to cocaine and heroin abuse is woefully misinformed ("Marijuana leads to cocaine, heroin abuse" Oct. 29). Marijuana is no more a gateway drug than alcohol, and alcohol is readily available on every other corner.

Often people argue against marijuana legalization by saying that people who use heroin started with marijuana. This is backwards thinking, as the question they should ask is how many people who have smoked marijuana have moved onto heroin. It is a negligible percentage. Rather, the measure of whether people will start abusing heroin is whether or not they have abused legally-or illegally-obtained prescription opiate pills.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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This is a plea for a rational and compassionate perspective on the issue of medical marijuana. I must be honest. It is personal for me as I suffer from multiple sclerosis. The opinions expressed here, however, were formed long before it became a personal issue. My objectivity has not changed, but my compassion has deepened.

The medicinal qualities of marijuana were recognized as far back as 2737 B.C. In fact, from 1850 to 1937, marijuana was legally and readily available as a medicine for a wide range of maladies in the US.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine came to Cleveland Thursday to speak out against Issue 3, which would legalize recreational and medical marijuana use in the state.

DeWine, who made a recent trip to Colorado to learn about what marijuana legalization has done to that state, spoke at the Greater Cleveland Partnership headquarters on Huron Road in downtown Cleveland. With him were the Partnership's CEO Joe Roman and Shaker Heights Police Chief Scott Lee.

DeWine said he took a three-day "fact-finding trip" trip to Colorado to speak with government and law enforcement officials there. The attorney general said the overall message he took away was, "Don't do what Colorado has done."

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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.

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Sam Quinones says it took a crumbling community to feed the heroin problem and it will take a thriving community to beat it.

The message from Quinones, an author and former journalist, at the Columbus Metropolitan Club on Tuesday underlined a painful lesson playing out every day around Ohio. Heroin kills, destroys lives, rips apart families and undermines community.

"Heroin's natural habitat is struggling areas," he said. "The destruction of community paved the way for this. It happens when we isolate and fragment."

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Questions, Gray Areas Worry Some

With 23 days left for Ohio voters to make up their minds on legalizing marijuana, there are a lot of complicated issues to consider.

State Issue 3 on the ballot Nov. 3 would amend the Ohio Constitution to allow adults 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana and get a permit to grow four flowering plants and keep 8 ounces of homegrown pot.

It also would allow anyone of any age to use marijuana for medical reasons - with a certificate from a licensed Ohio physician.

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If voters across Ohio next month approve a proposal to ease criminal sanctions on marijuana, the law's changes would fall short of a recently enacted and legally challenged Toledo ordinance.

The amendment to the Ohio Constitution would allow a resident of at least 21 years old to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational use and grow up to 8 ounces of the drug if licensed by the state. Retail sale of recreational marijuana also would begin.

On Sept. 15, Toledo voters supported reducing penalties in the Toledo Municipal Code to no fines or jail time for marijuana-related offenses. The law went into effect a week ago.

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'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.

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Legalizing Marijuana in Ohio Shouldn't Require Giving Constitutional Cover to a Self-Selected Cartel of Growers

Ohio voters deserve the opportunity to choose whether they want to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use. But if they decide they do, they should not be forced in the process to make a small group of rich Ohioans enormously richer. That is the fatal flaw of Issue 3 on this fall's statewide ballot, and why the proposal deserves a NO vote.

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COLUMBUS - A poll released Thursday showed that more than half of Ohio voters believe that adults' personal use of small amounts of marijuana should be legal.

When it comes to just medical use, support soars to 90 percent, according to the Quinnipiac Poll.

The poll questions, however, were broadly phrased for voters in the presidential swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida and were not specifically tailored to Issue 3. That's the pot legalization and commercialization question on the Nov. 3 ballot, on which Ohioans are already voting.

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The Quinnipiac Poll Also Showed Support Among Ohio Voters for Medical Marijuana at 90 Percent.

An overwhelming number of Ohioans would be OK with legalizing medical marijuana, while a smaller number - but still a majority - back legalizing recreational marijuana, according to a poll released on Thursday.

What's unclear is whether those people will vote for Issue 3, ResponsibleOhio's plan to legalize both types of marijuana use. The issue is on the ballot statewide.

The Quinnipiac poll showed support among Ohio voters for medical marijuana at 90 percent and for recreational use at 53 percent.

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90 Percent of Voters Support Medical Purposes

COLUMBUS - More than half of Ohio voters support the personal use of marijuana by adults with support soaring to 90 percent for just medical purposes, according to a Quinnipiac Poll released today.

These questions of support were posed generally to registered voters in presidential swing states Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida and did not ask voters specifically about the legalization and commercialization ballot issue on which Ohioans are already voting for the Nov. 3 election.

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