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Legal weed backers get OK to collect ballot signatures
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Backers of an effort to legalize marijuana in Ohio are poised to begin collecting signatures to place the issue before voters.
The state Ballot Board reviewed ResponsibleOhio’s proposed constitutional amendment Friday afternoon and determined it focused on a single issue, meaning the package would be placed before voters as one ballot measure and not multiple ones.
The panel’s unanimous vote came after a brief session at the Statehouse. Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, who heads the five-member board, said no groups submitted comments to support moving the amendment as separate measures, and the board’s legal counsel had advised it was a single issue.
The decision came a week after Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine certified ResponsibleOhio’s petition language, giving his approval for signature collecting to begin.
Backers will need to collect more than 305,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Lydia Bolander, spokeswoman for ResponsibleOhio, said the group would begin those efforts in coming days.
“It’s more than enough time for us to gather the signatures we’ll need to qualify for the ballot in November,” she said. “We think this is a complex issue. Ohioans deserve to have a thorough conversation on this issue. It’s something that will introduce a new market, creating thousands of jobs and fundamentally changing the way that our state approaches ending marijuana prohibitions.”
ResponsibleOhio has proposed the creation of a control commission to regulate the state’s marijuana production and sales. The amendment outlines 10 sites where marijuana could be grown, including a location in Alliance in Stark County, and five testing facilities to check drug supplies for potency and safety, including a Mahoning County site.
Retail sales of the drug would be taxed at 5 percent, while growers and processors would pay a 15 percent tax on their purchases.
The ballot language also would allow anyone 21 or older to grow up to four marijuana plants at home as long as they have obtained permits in advance and the growing area is secure.
Gov. John Kasich and other statewide Republican officeholders oppose the proposed ballot issue.
The coming campaign by proponents and opponents could cost tens of millions of dollars.
“This is going to be a well-funded campaign,” said Jon Allison, spokesman for the Drug Free Action Alliance, which opposes the amendment. “They’ve got good lawyers. They’ve got good consultants. The good news is, we’ve got good facts and are on the right side of the issue. This is bad for public safety; it’s bad for worker safety.”