Proposal to legalize cannabis goes to Ohio Legislature

More than 200,000 signatures later, a proposal to legalize cannabis in Ohio goes back to the legislature.

Activists in Ohio this week petitions with a total of 206,943 signatures to the Secretary of State to review a proposal that would legalize the possession and purchase of cannabis for adults.

Once the review is complete, “lawmakers will have four months to implement the legislation,” reported Columbus Dispatch, and if they fail to pass the law or an amended version, “backers can collect an additional 132,887 valid signatures to support the Action to be taken ”. the ballot for the next federal election. “

The Dispatch reported that the proposal “would allow Ohioans 21 and older to buy and own 2.5 ounces of cannabis and 15 grams of concentrates,” and that they “would also have up to six plants individually and no more than 12 plants in a household with “several adults could grow.”

Cannabis products would be “taxed at 10 percent, with the proceeds going towards administrative costs, addiction treatment programs, communities with pharmacies and a program for social justice and jobs,” the newspaper said.

The group behind the legalization effort is the “Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol”.

“Marijuana legalization is an issue whose time has come in Ohio. According to recent polls, not only are Ohioans advocating legalization of marijuana for regulated adult use, they see it as inevitable, ”the coalition says on its website. “We hope that Ohio leaders will use this opportunity to take control of our future. The support of a regulatory and tax system is critical to making Ohio successful should changes arise at the federal level. “

The group says their campaign is “an attempt to encourage Ohio lawmakers to regulate marijuana for adult use just as we do for alcohol,” and come up with a proposal that “fix a broken system while reducing the local one Ensuring control and keeping marijuana out of circulation “would be in the hands of the children and for the benefit of all.”

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Ohio plans to legalize

The coalition to regulate marijuana like alcohol first drafted the bill in the summer and began collecting signatures shortly afterwards.

The Dispatch reported that this campaign differs from the one launched in 2015 “when voters rejected a constitutional amendment promoted by ResponsibleOhio that would have paved the way for adult marijuana use”.

Additionally, according to Columbus Dispatch, the latest legalization proposal would bring the state’s medical cannabis companies into the newly created recreational market.

Ohio’s medical cannabis program may be on the verge of a major overhaul. The state Senate passed a bill last week that would lead to the first changes to the program since it began five years ago.

Most notably, legislation would allow doctors in the state “to recommend marijuana for the treatment of any condition if, in the doctor’s sole discretion and medical opinion, the doctor determines any of the following”: that the patient’s symptoms could reasonably be expected to occur medical marijuana ”and“ that the patient can otherwise reasonably be expected to benefit from medical marijuana ”.

The bill, currently under review by the state House of Representatives, would also add arthritis, migraines, autism spectrum disorder, spasticity or chronic muscle spasms, hospice care or incurable diseases, and opioid use disorders to the list of qualified conditions for medical cannabis treatment.

Cannabis treatment can currently be recommended for the following qualified conditions: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; Alzheimer’s Disease; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Cancer; Chronic traumatic encephalopathy; Crohn’s disease; Epilepsy or another seizure disorder; Fibromyalgia; Glaucoma; Hepatitis C; Inflammatory bowel disease; Multiple sclerosis; Pain that is either chronic and severe or persistent; Parkinson’s Disease; Positive status for HIV; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Sickle cell anemia; Spinal cord disease or injury; Tourett’s syndrome; Traumatic brain injury and ulcerative colitis.