Ohioans are voting today to decide if adults can legally use and grow marijuana, casting ballots on State Issue 2, which would expand legal use beyond the medical marijuana law approved by the Ohio Legislature in 2016.
The proposal is an initiative petition to change Ohio law to commercialize, regulate, legalize and tax the adult use of cannabis. Issue 2 would not amend the state constitution, as would State Issue 1, the reproductive rights issue also on today’s ballot.
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Opponents of Issue 2 include public health and mental health advocates, law enforcement, business groups and others. They argue that marijuana poses health threats and that legalizing it will enrich marijuana companies while exposing children to the drug, increasing the chances of crime and workplace injuries, and creating driving hazards.
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“There is legalization and there is Issue 2 and they aren’t the same thing. Issue 2 was written by a handful of large marijuana companies to serve their financial interests. It’s got one of the lowest tax rates in the country and steers one-third of the tax revenue back to marijuana companies to fund expansion. It even earmarks up to 36% of the taxes for people with previous drug convictions — and their parents, children and spouses — to start new marijuana farms and shops. Regardless of what you think of legalization, Issue 2 is something else — a cash-grab by large marijuana corporations at Ohioans’ expense. It’s a bad deal for Ohio,” said Scott Milburn, spokesperson for Protect Ohio’s Workers and Families, which is campaigning against Issue 2.
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Supporters say marijuana has health benefits, should be regulated like alcohol, and that legalizing it will give access to marijuana to people with medical issues who cannot get a doctor’s permission to use it and will create jobs and tax revenue.
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“Issue 2 is the best way to protect public health, it’s the best way to help patients and it’s the best way to generate new tax revenue right here in the Buckeye State,” said Tom Haren, spokesperson for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which gathered petitions to put the issue on the ballot.
He said the 36% share of marijuana revenue that would go to the social equity and jobs fund will be administered by the Ohio Department of Development, which can set rules for allowing someone convicted of criminal offenses to apply for a license to grow or sell marijuana. But Haren said it also would have broader social equity goals to award licenses based on the wealth of the business owner, location in areas of high unemployment, race, gender and disability status. And he said that money also would be used “to study and fund criminal justice reform proposals and ways to correct the injustice of marijuana prohibition.”
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If approved Issue 2 would:
– Allow adults age 21 or older to buy marijuana from licensed dispensaries.
– Allow people to cultivate six marijuana plants at a time, with a limit of 12 per household, without a license. It would be illegal to sell home grown marijuana.
– Expand Ohio’s medical marijuana system, offering licensed cultivators and dispensaries the chance to sell recreational marijuana, and also offering licenses to new applicants, including through a social equity and jobs program.
– Prohibit advertising to minors and mandate setbacks to keep recreational dispensaries away from schools.
– Tax each purchase at 10%. That money would be split 3% to cover regulatory efforts; 25% toward a substance abuse and addiction services fund; 36% toward a fund to create loans, grants and technical assistance to minority or disadvantaged business owners in the industry; and 36% toward revenue for local governments where recreational businesses exist.
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Because Issue 2 would simply change state law, not amend the state constitution, the Ohio legislature could make changes to it if voters approve the ballot issue today.
Ohio voters in 2015 soundly rejected a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational and medical marijuana. But in 2016 the Ohio Legislature legalized medical marijuana in a bill that allowed it to be used for specific medical conditions under a highly regulated system. That law prohibits growing marijuana at home.
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ELECTION 2023: Voters casting ballots today on State Issue 2 legalizing recreational marijuana for Ohio adults Read More