Ohio medical marijuana businesses propose legalization measure
3 min read
Medical marijuana companies in Ohio are supporting new efforts to legalize cannabis for wider use.
But unlike the failed legalization efforts of 2015, they won’t try to include it in the state constitution.
Instead, they have drafted state law and plan to submit it to lawmakers first before submitting it to the electorate.
“We think we have a proposal here that meets all the criteria,” said cannabis lawyer Tom Haren, the group’s spokesman.
Proponents of the measure planned to file an initial batch of 1,000 signatures and suggested language with the Ohio Attorney General on Tuesday. The attorney general has 10 days to review the summary of the proposed law that appears on petitions to ensure that it is a “fair and truthful” account of the action.
Supporters will eventually have to collect 132,887 signatures from registered voters in Ohio to bring the move to lawmakers.
The legislature then has four months to pass, reject or pass a change in the law. If they don’t pass the bill, backers can collect an additional 132,887 signatures to put it on a nationwide vote.
What the bill would do
The proposal would allow Ohioans 21 and older to buy and own 2.5 ounces of cannabis and 15 grams of concentrates and grow up to six plants in safe rooms at home, according to the language received from USA TODAY Network Ohio.
A 10% tax would be levied, with the proceeds going to local communities with marijuana businesses, substance abuse and addiction programs, and operations for the program. Local governments could prohibit or restrict the establishment of marijuana companies in their communities.
The language is the grandfather of the existing medical marijuana program, allowing existing breeders, processors, and pharmacies to obtain licenses almost exclusively for the recreational market for the first two years. The bill provides for 40 new cultivation licenses and 50 additional pharmacy licenses for “social justice” applicants who are economically disadvantaged, belong to a racial or ethnic minority, or whose lives or families are harmed by marijuana crime charges.
Haren said this would allow the leisure side to get going quickly and prevent market oversaturation. He noted that the bill does not set fixed caps on licenses; state regulators with the Ohio Department of Commerce would decide whether to offer more licenses to meet demand. There are currently 34 medical marijuana breeders, 47 processors, and 58 pharmacies in Ohio.
Haren declined to name individual supporters, but said the language had been reviewed by national experts and interest groups and was supported by “a broad coalition”.
What’s next?
Ohio’s Conservative legislature hesitates legalized medical marijuana in 2016 and has since shown little interest in either modifying or expanding the highly regulated program.
Earlier this month, two state Democratic MPs announced: they had drafted a law to legalize itthat would be considered first in Ohio.
Haren, a former Republican candidate for the Ohio Senate, said he believed his faction’s proposal would pass the legislature and not have to go to the vote.
This story will be updated.
Jackie Borchardt is the office director of the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which covers Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal, and 18 other affiliate news organizations across Ohio.
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