State health officials issued a public warning Friday about a severe bleeding outbreak in the Midwest that has been linked to synthetic marijuana contaminated with a rat poison ingredient. No cases have been reported in Ohio as of Friday. A total of 94 people have exhibited symptoms in the past month in other states. Most were in Illinois, which has reported 89 cases, including two deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases also have been reported in Missouri, Wisconsin and Maryland, and there is a suspected case in Pennsylvania. [continues 230 words]
A Whitehall man was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $25,000 in restitution for a series of crimes related to his proposal to create a residential treatment center for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts on the Near East Side of Columbus. Johnny R. Marcum, 47, of Pierce Avenue, pleaded guilty last month to three counts of identity fraud, four counts of passing bad checks, one count of forgery, two counts of theft and one count of tampering with records. [continues 253 words]
Ohio's drug overdose deaths rose 39 percent -- the third-largest increase among the states -- between mid-2016 and mid-2017, according to new federal figures. The state's opioid crisis continued to explode in the first half of last year, with 5,232 Ohio overdose deaths recorded in the 12 months ending June 31, 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. The death toll increased by 1,469 or 39 percent, which trailed only the 43.4-percent hike in Pennsylvania and 39.4-percent increase recorded in Florida. Ohio's total number of dead also only fell behind Florida (5,540) and Pennsylvania (5,443). [continues 297 words]
WASHINGTON -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine joined 43 other state attorneys general to ask Congress to repeal a law they argue has damaged the Drug Enforcement Agency's ability to crack down on drug manufacturers and distributors that have contributed to the nation's sweeping opioid epidemic. In a letter Tuesday to House and Senate leadership, the attorneys general argue that a bill passed by voice vote in 2016 made it more difficult for the DEA to take action against drug companies that were flooding communities with prescription painkillers. [continues 214 words]
The Ohio Department of Commerce has approved 14 applications for small operations to grow medical marijuana, although only 11 will become operational. The 11 sites on which up to 3,000 square feet can be cultivated, will be in addition to 12 sites on which 24,000 square feet can be cultivated. Successful applications for the large sites will be announced in coming weeks, Department of Commerce spokeswoman Stephanie Gostomski said. Medical marijuana is expected to be available to consumers in about a year. [continues 170 words]
More state spending, legislation and debate on Ohio's drug crisis don't appear to have made a dent as the statewide death toll from accidental drug overdoses soared last year to 4,050, a 33-percent jump over 2015. Fentanyl, the deadly opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin, is increasingly to blame for overdose deaths, with fentanyl and its derivatives accounting for 58.2 percent of the deaths, up from 37.9 percent in 2015. There were 3,050 overdose deaths in 2015. [continues 171 words]
WARREN, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say more than 400 pounds (181 kilograms) of marijuana has been found in 15 new cars made in Mexico and shipped to Ohio and Pennsylvania to sell. A drug task force in Ohio's Portage County was called to a Ford dealership this week after a service department employee found a package of pressed marijuana in a spare tire compartment during a vehicle inspection. Investigators then went to a rail yard near Warren and found more packages in the trunks of Ford Fusions pressed into the shape of a spare tire. Additional packages were found at other northeast Ohio dealerships and one in Pennsylvania. A Drug Enforcement Administration agent tells The Vindicator that marijuana was found in April in new cars shipped from Mexico to Minnesota. Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. [end]
Heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs remain widely available throughout Ohio, often at bargain prices, a new state report reveals. If that isn't bad enough, the quality of the drugs is "is really good, too good. We've lost 12 friends in the past year (to overdoses)," said one respondent in the just-released Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network Report. The semi-annual statewide report of drug availability trends is done by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. [continues 409 words]
Criminal charges filed against petition circulators accused of falsifying signatures on petitions for the marijuana-legalization ballot issue in 2015 show that people must be careful, Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O'Brien said. "It serves as a cautionary note that people circulating petitions need to be very careful and follow the law when they are gathering signatures," O'Brien said. "People need to be careful to only sign their own names." O'Brien commented Friday as four cases continued to move through Delaware County Common Pleas Court. [continues 176 words]
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- One of the nation's largest pharmaceutical distributors allegedly failed to report suspicious orders in Kentucky and elsewhere, contributing to a spike in abuse of painkillers called opioids, federal authorities have charged. McKesson Corp. agreed to pay a $150 million penalty for alleged violations of federal drug law, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday. The case was a civil, not criminal, matter. The settlement resolves an investigation of a McKesson distribution center in Washington Court House, Ohio, by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency office in London and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky, based in Lexington, according to a news release. [continues 197 words]
WASHINGTON - When Sen. Rob Portman's campaign launched its first TV ads of 2016, it wasn't hard to sense a theme. The first ad focused on Portman's work to fight Ohio's drug crisis. The second told the story of Tyler Campbell, a young man from Pickerington who died of a heroin overdose. A third told of a Lakewood woman who is a recovering heroin addict. And a fourth told the story of a young woman from Carrollton who died of a heroin overdose. [continues 800 words]
Ohio lawyers are inquiring about the legal ethics accompanying medical marijuana. A committee of the Board of Professional Conduct is examining the issue and expects to make a recommendation on an advisory opinion in August. Two lawyers have sought guidance on ethical issues since lawmakers recently legalized the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medical purposes. The questions being asked include the type of services lawyers can provide to marijuana-related businesses, attorney ownership in related businesses and the personal use of medical marijuana. [continues 81 words]
I respond to the Sunday letter "State needs guidance on medical pot" from Thomas D'Onofrio. I don't think he should worry about anyone using medical marijuana. This bill was crafted by elected career legislators, who are also prohibitionists. I don't think any doctors are going to write people a prescription for medical marijuana unless they are on their death bed. No insurance company is going to cover medical marijuana as soon as it sees the word THC anywhere. [continues 105 words]
Doctors against medical marijuana should stop pretending present pharmaceuticals are any less dangerous. The shear ignorance and bias in many of the articles written against the legalization of medical marijuana - many of them by doctors no less - is astounding and shameful. They speak as if we don't already have medicines derived from opium, from which heroin, morphine, oxycodone and the like are derived, or the coca plant that produces cocaine (which led to the discovery of lidocaine, etc.), as well as dozens of other highly toxic and/or addictive herbs. [continues 218 words]
I respond to the Tuesday letter "Legislators answered call with marijuana bill" from Aaron Neumann, who congratulated the legislature for passing medical-marijuana legislation rather than allowing a ballot initiative to create a law without the legislature's input or approval. However, Neumann was critical of the bill's burdensome regulations, restrictions and red tape. He should have mentioned that one can't actually possess, grow or ingest the unprocessed plant that is the law's namesake, even with a prescription. Marijuana the plant will remain just as illegal as it was before the bill is passed. Ohio's medical-marijuana law is not concerned with allowing suffering people access to marijuana but about stopping ballot initiatives - just as last year's State Issue 2 was about stopping marijuana legalization. William Bruns Blacklick [end]
Even if Ohio Gov. John Kasich signs into law a bill legalizing medical marijuana, some patients could be stopped from treatment by their employers. The bill passed by the state legislature last month would allow individuals to use, but not smoke, marijuana with a physician's permission. However, the bill also allows employers to keep drug-free workplace policies. That means as long as employers express the policy upfront, they have the right to fire, or choose not to hire, an individual based on marijuana use, even if that employee has permission to use the drug. [continues 521 words]
Marijuana plants could be growing legally in Ohio soil in a year, predicts state Sen. Dave Burke, an architect of Ohio's newly minted medical marijuana law. "As soon as 16 months, you would have products tested and available," the Marysville Republican said. House Bill 523, the medical marijuana law, completed a rocky journey through the legislature Wednesday. It is now headed to Gov. John Kasich. Kasich has not indicated whether he will sign the bill into law. He also could veto it or allow it to take effect without his signature. [continues 515 words]
As it nears a potential vote next week on medical marijuana, the Senate today made a number of bill changes, including those that seek to speed up the implementation and give Ohioans immediate access to the drug. A chief complaint of the House-passed bill among medical marijuana proponents was Ohioans would have to wait for up to two years before getting access to the drug while regulations, farms and distributors were established. The latest version of the bill, accepted in Senate committee on Wednesday, allows patients to obtain medical marijuana from out of state via prescription in forms legal under the bill, before the system is fully established in Ohio. [continues 547 words]
With a proposed constitutional amendment on the horizon, the House voted 71-26 on Tuesday to potentially make Ohio the 26th state to give residents legal access to medical marijuana. Some members expressed reluctance about the bill - a vote on which would have been near unfathomable just a few years ago - but after hearing of the drug's benefits and facing the prospect of a less-restrictive constitutional amendment on the November ballot, the bill was sent to the Senate. Hearings will start this morning. [continues 716 words]
You might not like President Barack Obama's political philosophy or leadership style, but you have to admit that he is one cool president. If you're unconvinced, consider his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 30. His poise and charm were on full display, and his comedic timing was impeccable. Still, his best joke made me cringe a little: He said that his popularity rating had been rising. In fact, he said, "The last time I was this high, I was trying to decide on my major." [continues 608 words]
It looks as if legalization of medical marijuana will come this year, either through pending legislation or through two possible ballot issues to amend the Ohio Constitution. But the Ohio House is larding its bill with unpopular restrictions instead of crafting a plainly worded compromise sufficient to kill the more-extreme ballot issues. Many proponents of medical marijuana insist that smoking be one of the ways it can be used. But, unlike both ballot issues, House Bill 523 would require those with a marijuana prescription to use vaporization or other devices if they wish to inhale. The bill also would prohibit home-grown marijuana, which the ballot issues would allow in limited quantities. [continues 423 words]
WAVERLY, Ohio - Sure, some people grow marijuana in Pike County. And, yes, some people nurture the tender plants near clearings where the sunshine will hit them and where a water source - generally the Scioto River or one of its feeder creeks - is readily available. Increasingly often, though, people are moving their operations indoors, adding grow lights and irrigation to keep it all under roof, hidden from nosy neighbors and men and women with badges. This is not just a Pike County problem. Growing marijuana as a cash crop isn't uncommon in Appalachian communities, where the land is fertile and the opportunity to make money doing something else often isn't. [continues 1033 words]
The Ohio House could make history Tuesday by approving legislation to legalize medical marijuana. While state lawmakers have considered marijuana legislation in the past, no proposal has ever made it out of committee and to the full House for a vote. House Bill 523 was approved by a special committee Thursday faster than you can say "tetrahydrocannabinol," the chemical in marijuana that produces the "high" when smoking or ingesting it. It also provides pain relief, soothes seizures and increases appetite. There were two minor amendments and no discussion. [continues 539 words]
Ohioans could not legally smoke medical marijuana under a revamped proposal being rolled out today by state legislators. Those with a prescription for medical marijuana would be allowed to use vaporization or other inhalant devices. But the new restriction in the legislation, targeted for a House vote Tuesday, probably sets up a public battle with supporters of proposed November ballot issues that would allow smoking. Rep. Kirk Schuring of Canton, who was set to brief his fellow GOP House members Tuesday night on the revised measure, said he hopes the special committee he chairs approves the new plan Thursday after seeing it for the first time today. After House passage, Schuring said, he is optimistic the Senate and Kasich administration will quickly approve Ohio becoming the 25th state to legalize medical marijuana. [continues 263 words]
Let's do something meaningful in Washington that is fully bi-partisan. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sponsored bill S2123, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, with 11 bipartisan co-sponsors. As of February, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had said he would put the bill on the floor for a vote if 10 more Republicans would co-sponsor. As of April, he only needs three more Republicans, but time is running short to get this done prior to the election. [continues 173 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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
After years of resistance, Republican legislative leaders now are heading down the path toward legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. At the same time, ResponsibleOhio marijuana investor Dr. Suresh Gupta said on Wednesday that the marijuana campaign that stumbled badly on Tuesday will be back, possibly next year, with a plan that doesn't involve a monopoly. "Absolutely. We're not here to run away," said Gupta, a Dayton anesthesiologist and pain-management physician who owns a proposed pot-growing site in Pataskala. [continues 975 words]
The television commercials, direct-mail ads, endorsements and debates are over: It's time to decide whether marijuana will be legal in Ohio. Eyes across the country will be on the Buckeye State on Tuesday to see what voters decide on State Issue 3, the for-profit constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana in smokable and edible form for recreational use for those 18 or older, and for patients of any age with qualifying medical conditions. The warring campaigns - ResponsibleOhio and Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies - are as different as you can imagine. [continues 755 words]
NEWTON, N.H. - When Courtney Griffin was using heroin, she lied, disappeared and stole constantly from her parents to support her $400-a-day habit. Her family paid her debts, never filed a police report and kept her addiction secret - until she was found dead last year of an overdose. At Courtney's funeral, they decided to acknowledge the reality that redefined their lives: Their bright, beautiful daughter, only 20, who played the French horn in high school and dreamed of living in Hawaii, had been kicked out of the Marines over drugs. Eventually, she overdosed at her boyfriend's grandmother's house, where she died alone. [continues 905 words]
The contradiction of Issue 3 is that ResponsibleOhio will not be responsible for anything but the profit. The taxpayers and the state of Ohio will be the ones who would be responsible for compliance with this outrageous constitutional amendment. ResponsibleOhio claims that there have not been known deaths from marijuana overdose, but it does not address the many deaths from marijuana use. These deaths resulted from activities that the deceased participated in while under the influence of this mind-altering substance and deaths when marijuana use led to the use of other narcotics. [continues 287 words]
The intense debate over State Issue 3, the marijuana-legalization amendment, has overshadowed State Issue 2, which aims to block monopoly interests from carving out a niche in the Ohio Constitution. A constitutional lawyer says the Issue 2 "cure" could be worse than the "disease" if Ohioans approve the measure in Tuesday's election. Maurice Thompson, executive director of the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, a conservative, nonprofit legal center, said Issue 2 would hamper future citizen-driven ballot initiatives, including those seeking tax reforms. [continues 408 words]
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. [continues 610 words]
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." [continues 324 words]
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. [continues 366 words]
A nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research on cannabis plans to build a $24 million medical-marijuanaresearch facility at a proposed Licking County grow site if voters approve ResponsibleOhio's marijuana-legalization amendment this fall. Work at the International Cannabinoid Institute Research Foundation would focus on marijuana-centered therapies for certain medical conditions such as childhood epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer's disease and cancer. The nonprofit group would lease 15 acres from the owner of the proposed site in Pataskala for the 40,000-square foot facility, the group announced on Tuesday at a news conference outside the Statehouse. [continues 425 words]
