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]
The Ohio Ballot Board recently certified Ohioans for Medical Marijuana's petition, allowing the group to begin collecting signatures. The group, backed by the Washington D.C.-based Medical Policy Project, needs to collect 305,591 valid signatures from Ohio voters by early July in order for the proposed amendment to be added to the November ballot. If passed, the amendment would allow physicians to prescribe medical marijuana for people with qualifying conditions such as cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, severe pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. The group has previously said residents would be allowed to petition the state government to add medical conditions to the list. [continues 257 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]
I read that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has disqualified one of the proposed medical-marijuana ballot issues for the fourth time ("DeWine cites multiple flaws in rejecting marijuana issue," Dispatch article, March 19). There has to be a personal vendetta of some sort involved for him to pick apart the proposal four times. Does he not realize that there are many people who are in intense pain waiting for this amendment to become a reality. Does DeWine have no one else to answer to? Is there no one who can turn this around? Or are we at the mercy of DeWine to use his personal beliefs to overrule public opinion ? Barbara Matteson Richwood [end]
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]
The number of people who died from heroin-related overdoses in Butler County reached a record level last year, but deaths from heroin and its more potent partner fentanyl leveled off in other parts of the region.. Butler County's record 189 overdose deaths (149 were attributed to heroin/fentanyl) were 52 more than the all-time high set in 2014. "The scary thing for us is we had more overdose deaths than deaths by natural causes," said Martin Schneider, the Butler County Coroner's Office administrator. "The mixture of heroin and fentanyl is a particularly potent combination." [continues 584 words]
Citing 11 separate flaws, Attorney General Mike DeWine today rejected the wording for a proposed medical marijuana constitutional ballot issue. It was the fourth time DeWine rebuffed the proposed Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment. The group backing the proposal, Ohio Medical Cannabis Care LLC, filed more than the minimum 1,000 signatures of registered voters needed to submit language for the proposal amendment, one of several in the works regarding medical marijuana. However, DeWine found numerous mistakes that caused him to disqualify the proposal as being a "fair and truthful" summary of the proposed amendment. [continues 133 words]
Slowly but surely, like the proverbial aircraft carrier, the U.S. government is changing to a new and better course on the long-neglected issue of opioid abuse and addiction. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took an emphatic stand against the loose prescribing norms that have fueled the growth of opioid consumption for non-cancer pain, with the terrible result that 16,000 people a year die from overdoses. Labeling the drugs "dangerous," and noting that evidence did not support their long-term efficacy for most cases of chronic pain, CDC Director Thomas Frieden urged physicians to follow more-cautious new CDC guidelines that emphasize alternative pain-management techniques. Dr. Frieden and his colleagues deserve credit for incorporating a range of views in the guidelines while resisting pressure to weaken them from interest groups that support the status quo. [continues 395 words]
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]
This week's arrests of nine alleged high-level drug dealers in Lorain and Elyria sends a clear message that law enforcement agencies in these cities are once again fed up with peddlers selling this poison on our streets. It's also a message most of us should agree with that enough is enough. Five deaths in the last two weeks from drug overdoses is too much for this community. One death is too many. Authorities say there is no connection between the recent overdose deaths and the arrests in Lorain and Elyria. [continues 760 words]
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 115 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]
For the second time in two years, Ohio voters might see an issue on the November ballot to legalize marijuana under limited circumstances. Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project is proposing an amendment to Ohio's constitution that would allow for medical use of marijuana by qualifying patients with debilitating medical conditions. The amendment also would permit the licensed and regulated cultivation, manufacturing, testing, distribution and dispensing of marijuana for medical use. The group said its proposal is based on the medical marijuana laws that have been passed in 23 other states and Washington, D.C. MPP is aiming to put the issue in front of Ohio voters in the November election. In order to do so, the group needs to collect 305,591 signatures by July 6. [continues 599 words]
COLUMBUS (AP) - Another group has announced it's working to get a measure to legalize medical marijuana on the Ohio ballot. Cleveland.com reports that Grassroots Ohio said Thursday it will submit proposed ballot language to the state attorney general in the next week. The group's one-page constitutional amendment calls for Ohio to tax and regulate medical marijuana and allows those 21 and older to use it with a doctor's permission. A spokeswoman says the group is allowing for the possibility that the Ohio Legislature, which is examining the issue, will legalize medical marijuana. The Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project on Tuesday announced it will send a detailed ballot initiative to the state that it wants on the November ballot. Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. [end]
A former Mount Vernon Police Department detective pleaded guilty Friday to a federal extortion charge, admitting he used his position to steal money and narcotics from the department's property room. Matthew L. Dailey could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley did not set a sentencing date for Dailey, who is being held without bail in the Franklin County jail. Dailey, 45, of Howard, a sergeant who was evidence custodian of the property room, has resigned from the police department where he worked for 10 years. [continues 206 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]
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 439 words]
COLUMBUS (AP) - Authorities say a central Ohio police detective who was arrested last week on federal drug charges killed himself in jail. The Delaware County Sheriff's Office says 43-year-old Tye Downard hanged himself in his one-person cell early Monday. Downard had been an officer in the Columbus suburb of Reynoldsburg. He was found dead during hourly inmate checks. He had not been on suicide watch. Other details weren't available, but the sheriff's office says there was no negligence by employees. [continues 55 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]
In January, ResponsibleOhio co-founder Jimmy Gould said in a news conference that the group would not return this year with another proposed constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana. ResponsibleOhio was the private group backing Issue 3, which would have legalized the limited sale and use of recreational and medicinal marijuana in Ohio. Despite Issue 3's failure at the polls last November, the debate over marijuana legalization in Ohio is far from over. Ohio would have become the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational and medical purposes simultaneously had Issue 3 passed last November. [continues 1256 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]
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 452 words]
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Marijuana Policy Project has unveiled more details about the medical marijuana amendment planned for Ohio this year. And it has named three Ohioans who will co-chair the campaign. Language for the constitutional amendment, planned for the November ballot, has not yet been drafted, the president of the national nonprofit said in questions and answers posted on Facebook and sent to cleveland.com Tuesday night. The language will be based off laws in the 23 states where medical marijuana is legal. [continues 471 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]
We are in the midst of a heroin epidemic started when we cracked down on the use of legal use of pain medicine as well as the illegal usage as by restricting a doctor's ability to prescribe pain medicines. Forcing patients into the illegal market has resulted in soaring opioid use and overdose deaths with our legislators scrambling to get a hold on this self-created disaster. Overdose deaths are still in the thousands here in Kentucky, and a drop of a single death brings stories of possibly getting a drop of two deaths if we only try harder. Our lawmakers are ignoring legislation that can eliminate as much as 33 percent of these deaths. [continues 85 words]
The start of 2016 brought some changes to the landscape of Ohio's marijuana legalization efforts - including the arrival of a national organization that wants Ohio to be the 24th "medical marijuana state." That group, The Marijuana Policy Project, announced this week that they are working on an initiative to legalize the drug in Ohio, and looking for an organizer to head up operations in the state. "The 2016 campaign ... is focusing only on medical marijuana, which enjoys a high level of support among Ohio voters," according to the D.C. group's website. [continues 307 words]
Not long ago, majority Statehouse Republicans barely uttered a peep about marijuana legalization. Now both chambers have appointed special panels to explore the pros and cons of medical marijuana. Sens. Dave Burke, R-Marysville, and Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights, announced Tuesday they are going on a "listening tour" with stops in Cleveland, Toledo and Cincinnati. Yuko has advocated for medical marijuana for more than a decade, while Burke said he remains skeptical. As a pharmacist, Burke said he knows that "All chemicals can cause both harm and benefits, depending on the use." He said he will remain open minded. [continues 326 words]
As a lawyer for more than 37 years, I feel qualified to make some observations about the state of the criminal-justice system and the manner it has been administered by the General Assembly, police and prosecutors. This is brought about most recently by law enforcement complaining about proposed restrictions to forfeiture laws. I have witnessed four decades of the war on drugs, which continues to be a complete and utter failure. We arrest 14 million people each year; we have 70 million people with criminal records; and we subject these folks to more than 500,000 collateral consequences that make them second-class citizens. [continues 298 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]
GOP legislators generally opposed legalization, but some now see support growing for medical marijuana. Two former top leaders of the ResponsibleOhio group that unsuccessfully pushed to legalize marijuana in Ohio in November have now decided to team up with Ohio House leaders to seek a more modest medical-marijuana initiative. Jimmy Gould, co-founder of ResponsibleOhio, knows his group took the kind of shellacking at the ballot last fall that makes it difficult to just regroup and try again. Instead, he and Chris Stock, a fellow attorney who worked on ResponsibleOhio, joined Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, to attempt to implement a level of regulated legalization. [continues 508 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]
As Number of Female Inmates Has Spiked, State Plans to Get Some Back to Families Sooner More women than ever are going to prison in Ohio, with most serving short sentences for nonviolent drug crimes and struggling with mental-health and addiction issues. A provision tucked into the state budget could change that, however. It empowers Ohio Prisons Director Gary C. Mohr to move nonviolent, low-level felony drug offenders out of prisons and into community programs or electronically monitored house arrest if they have less than a year remaining of their sentence. The change applies to both genders, with 2,100 inmates likely to be eligible this year. [continues 708 words]
Before medical-marijuana legalization comes to the ballot again, some facts need to be highlighted. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, is already available. The prescription drug known as dronabinol - brand name Marinol - contains THC in a standardized, tested and FDAapproved pill form. It has little demand. Why? Because there are better prescription drugs available for the indicated health problems. In other words, patients have not shown significant benefits from Marinol, especially when taking into account its side effects, which include dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, hallucinations, mood and mental changes, rapid heartbeat, anxiety, paranoia, an exaggerated sense of well-being, nausea, vomiting and stomach and abdominal pain. [continues 246 words]
Supporters spent more than $21 million on a losing fall campaign to legalize marijuana in Ohio for personal and medical use, campaign finance reports filed Friday show. Most of the nearly $12 million ResponsibleOhio raised from July to October came from 10 companies or organizations listed under corporate names, according to the figures reported to the Secretary of State's office. About 250 people gave individual contributions during the period. Their contributions of $2 to $200 totaled less than $8,000. [continues 172 words]
The big crowd at Donald Trump's presidential campaign rally in Columbus this week was dotted with people carrying clipboards with green marijuana leaves on the back, quietly collecting signatures for pot legalization. Ohio will ring in the New Year with a crop of renewed pot proposals, including two potential constitutional amendments and state medical-marijuana legislation. All of this is on tap during a heated presidential campaign year. The group gathering signatures at the Trump rally was LegalizeOhio, the name used by Ohioans to End Prohibition, which proposes legalizing marijuana and hemp, a plant from the same family that's used to produce oil, fiber and other products. [continues 536 words]
Vermilion police Capt. Michael Reinheimer's termination from his department did not come as a shock. Reinheimer has faced discipline in the past. The last straw came when Reinheimer decided to wear a pin on his department issued police jacket supporting marijuana legalization at a police auction Nov. 7. Why, Capt. Reinheimer? There's nothing wrong with taking a stance on something you believe in. In this case, Reinheimer wants marijuana to be legal. What the captain did was wrong. He violated department policy by altering his uniform. [continues 535 words]
VERMILION, Ohio - A police officer fired after he wore a pro-marijuana pin on his police jacket during an auction said Wednesday that he plans to fight his dismissal. Vermilion Police Capt. Michael Reinheimer believes he was fired for wearing the pin. But Chris Hartung, the city's police chief, said Reinheimer already had disciplinary problems before the auction and the pin was the simply the last straw. Reinheimer said he plans to appeal his termination before Vermilion's Civil Service Commission. If they reject his appeal, he plans to sue the city. [continues 534 words]
Only "a meteor striking the earth" would prevent passage of the ballot issue to legalize marijuana in Ohio. -- Ian James, campaign manager for State Issue 3, in a television interview in Columbus. Four days later, it struck. Among its victims were James, who lost every shred of credibility he ever had, and a small group of rich investors whose greed got in the way of their common sense. Fast forward about 85 years. At the dawn of the 22nd century, some historians will examine in detail the best and worst political campaigns of the past 100 years. [continues 690 words]
One of the most surprising results from last week's state elections was Ohio voters voting overwhelmingly against Big Pot. By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, they defeated a ballot measure that would have permitted the legalization of marijuana in the Buckeye State. Misleadingly named Responsible-Ohio, the measure would have allowed the commercial production, retail sale and personal use of marijuana. Yet despite Big Pot's $25 million cash infusion into the effort, voters rejected the spin that marijuana legalization is safe or in the best interests of citizens. [continues 626 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]
State Issue 3 Was the Wrong Way to Approach Marijuana Legalization By a margin of nearly 2 to 1, Ohio voters on Tuesday rejected a scheme to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational purposes. There are a variety of reasons for the resounding defeat, but one thing is clear: Ohioans felt that Issue 3 was the wrong way to go. The fact that voters also approved anti-monopoly Issue 2, which will make it harder for self-interested parties to amend the Ohio Constitution for personal gain, shows that the monopoly aspect was a big negative factor that united people across the political and ideological spectrum against Issue 3. Even many of those who generally favor marijuana legalization chafed at well-heeled backers trying to cut themselves a sweetheart deal and enshrine it into the constitution. [continues 424 words]
I just want to thank God and the 65 percent of the clear-thinking Ohioans who voted to oppose the legalization of marijuana, including those who voted against it because it is a moral issue to them and, in the end, just an asinine idea - not just because it gave a monopoly to a handful of money changers. When one considers the Mexican cartels and gangs that are responsible for much of the violence in the streets of America in an attempt to control the drug trade, one has to give a good share of the blame to those who use it and are in favor of legalizing it. [continues 109 words]
Inside Ohio
