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Ohio becomes 24th state to legalize marijuana for recreational, adult use [1]
['Lahancock Jpelzer Jzuckerman', 'Laura', 'Hancock', 'Lhancock Cleveland.Com', 'Jeremy Pelzer', 'Jpelzer Cleveland.Com', 'Jake Zuckerman', 'Jzuckerman Cleveland.Com', 'Laura Hancock', 'Cleveland.Com']
Date: 2023-11-08 02:36:15.782000+00:00
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohioans voted to legalize recreational marijuana Tuesday, potentially setting up cannabis sales in dispensaries for adult use by late 2024.
The Associated Press declared that the proposal, state Issue 2, passed just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday as the proposed state law was winning with more than 55% of the vote. With its passage, Ohio is now the 24th state to legalize recreational marijuana.
However, top state lawmakers suggested soon afterward that the Ohio General Assembly will consider changing parts of the law law, including altering its 10% marijuana tax rate, changing allowable THC levels, and redirecting at least some marijuana tax revenue to help pay for new county jails and law-enforcement training.
Under the proposal that Ohioans passed, people aged 21 and older can possess and purchase marijuana from state-licensed adult-use dispensaries. Adults can grow up to six plants per person and 12 per household. Marijuana will be taxed at 10%, plus state and local sales taxes. Sales tax revenue will be sent to communities that host marijuana businesses, a fund for education and treatment for addiction and a jobs and social equity fund that would encourage providing grants and loans to minorities, women and Ohioans negatively impacted by the war on drugs.
The proposal states that people can begin growing marijuana at home once the law becomes effective on Dec. 7. State regulators need to pass rules briskly. If they don’t adopt a regulatory framework within nine months, Ohioans can sue the state. These deadlines and lawsuit provision are meant to keep the program moving forward since state regulators blew deadlines in the medical program.
“This was a landslide victory for Issue 2. Ohioans spoke loud, they spoke clear, they want marijuana regulated like alcohol,” said Tom Haren, a spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the main pro-Issue 2 group, on Tuesday night. The coalition is composed of a number of medical marijuana businesses.
Issue 2 was proposed as an initiated statute, or proposed law. Now that it has passed, the Republican-dominated Ohio General Assembly can amend or even repeal parts or all of it.
It remains to be seen what the legislature will do with the passed law, but Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman has said he dislikes the jobs and social equity fund, believing it allows the industry to fund itself.
“This statute was written by the marijuana industry and should not be treated as a cash grab for their cash crop at the expense of a state trying to emerge from the opioid epidemic,” Huffman, a Lima Republican, said in a statement Tuesday night. “The General Assembly may consider amending the statute to clarify the questionable language regarding limits for THC and tax rates as well as other parts of the statute.”
Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, a Lawrence County Republican, said in a statement Tuesday night that lawmakers are also considering altering where at least some of the marijuana tax revenue would go.
“With the passage of Issue 2, now is the time for the legislature to lead on how best to allocate tax revenues while responsibly regulating the industry,” Stephens stated. “Investing in county jail construction and funding law enforcement training across Ohio should be our top priority to make our communities safer.”
Scott Milburn, a spokesman for Protect Ohio Workers and Families, the leading Issue 2 opposition campaign, called the Issue 2 election results “a disappointing development” in a statement.
“But nothing’s over,” Milburn continued. “The venue just shifts from the campaign trail to the Statehouse.”
“This ticking time bomb crafted in secret by a Columbus law firm (a reference to Ice Miller, which helped with the language of Issue 2) will now be cracked open by the legislature in the full light of day so they can defuse it in an open, public process before it blows up in Ohio’s face. It’s a guarantee that wholesale changes await—if not an outright repeal. That would only benefit Ohioans and spare us all a bad case of buyer’s remorse.”
Haren criticized the prospect of lawmakers changing Issue 2.
“I can’t believe that in 2023 we’re actually talking about elected officials not respecting the will of the voters and not respecting the outcome of an election,” he said.
READ MORE: Recreational marijuana election coverage
Compared to the bitterly fought, higher-profile abortion rights campaign, recreational marijuana fell under the radar. The campaign backing it, a group of licensed Ohio medical marijuana businesses, only spent $1 million in the weeks before the election. The opposition campaign of Ohio business groups, law enforcement and prosecutors and children’s health groups spent even less, just under $350,000.
Ohio’s existing medical marijuana program, which allows people with at least one of 26 qualifying conditions to obtain it from dispensaries and use it, would remain in place even if Issue 2 passes. That program was first adopted in 2016 and has spawned more than 100 medical dispensaries. But state leaders had resisted a recreational program, ultimately leaving it to voters to decide. The new law does not affect Ohio’s medical marijuana program.
The proposed law would also allow employers to ban employees from using marijuana, as well as permit them to fire or refuse to hire people who use or possess marijuana. Landlords could also include lease clauses that forbid tenants from growing or smoking marijuana.
Laura Hancock covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.
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[1] Url:
https://www.cleveland.com/open/2023/11/ohio-becomes-24th-state-to-legalize-marijuana-for-recreational-adult-use.html
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