Will Ohio legalize? – Cannabis | weed | marijuana

Will the state of Ohio legalize cannabis this November? Officials announced Wednesday that the legalization initiative will appear on the November 2023 ballot.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA) submitted more than 220,000 signatures, down from 679. Officials gave them 10 more days, and activists found 6,500 more.

The Ohio Secretary of State determined that 4,405 of those signatures were valid. That means residents can decide in November: Will Ohio legalize cannabis?

Will Ohio legalize?

“We are grateful to the thousands of Ohioans who have helped us get to this point, and we are excited to present our proposal to regulate marijuana like alcohol to Ohio voters next Election Day,” said Tom Haren, a spokesman for CTRMLA .

The group’s 41-page proposal states that it is legal to grow, manufacture, test and sell to people over the age of 21. They also advocate growing at home with a limit of six per person and twelve per household.

Like other states, Ohio will likely create a new regulatory bureaucracy to issue licenses and impose fines and penalties if the ballot measure is passed.

So, will Ohio legalize cannabis? While statewide ballot initiatives to legalize cannabis are popular in the US, it’s rare in Ohio. The last time citizen-driven legislation was passed was in 2006, when Ohioans voted to ban indoor smoking.

Since Ohio’s inception, only four citizen-initiated laws have been passed. So will Ohio legalize? Even if a majority of residents vote in favour, the Ohio General Assembly could change or even repeal the law.

This isn’t the first time Ohioans have been asked about legalization. In 2015, 63.4% of voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have created a statewide cannabis monopoly with just 10 growers (handpicked by the government).

Ohioans voted against the Cannabis Act and for an anti-monopoly amendment that will prevent something like this from happening again.

What are the details this time? Will Ohio legalize cannabis if it doesn’t come down to a state-protected cartel of 10 exclusive breeders?

Ohio legalization details

Ohioans were right to reject the 2015 amendment. But what about the initiative for this November? The actual voting action may differ from the wording of the CTRMLA. But we can still get a glimpse of what to expect.

• Age restriction: 21 years and older
• Legal possession of up to 2.5 ounces of flower
• 15 grams of concentrates
• Individuals can grow up to six plants for personal use.
• Maximum 12 plants per household
• 10 percent sales tax on cannabis
• A new bureaucracy: a “Cannabis Control Department” reporting to the state Department of Commerce
• The new bureaucracy will have the power to “license, regulate, investigate and penalize adult-use cannabis operators, adult-use testing labs and those who require a license.”
• Medical cannabis companies can easily transition to the recreational market.
• The new cannabis bureaucracy will give licenses “priority to applicants who are participants in the Cannabis Social Justice and Employment Program.”
• Individual municipalities can ban cannabis companies from operating in their jurisdiction (but cannot ban medical cannabis companies).
• Employers can continue to maintain their anti-cannabis policies.
• Regulators would have to provide “cannabis addiction services,” which involves broadcasting propaganda about cannabis and incriminating individuals with the “addiction and recovery mentality” that their brains are broken or “ill.”
• “Study and fund” criminal justice reform that includes bans on cannabis

Will Ohio legalize? Advantages and disadvantages

Will Ohio Legalize Cannabis? The November initiative, while not perfect, is far better than the 2015 monopoly amendment.

Still, November’s election leaves much to be desired.

As we have already mentioned, markets regulate themselves. We can draw on centuries of Anglo-American legal tradition when it comes to “market failures”.

A legal cannabis industry (or any other industry for that matter) doesn’t need government bureaucracies issuing licenses and enacting rules based on their ideas of “best practice”.

A government that denies you the right to grow a medicinal plant if you don’t have the right “papers” is repressive. It may be a minor tyranny compared to other parts of the world, and certainly compared to our history, but it is tyrannical nonetheless.

But the downsides of November’s Ohio vote go beyond mere licensing and regulation. Will Ohio legalize cannabis this November? If not, it may be because, like in 2015, Ohioans are unhappy with the details.

CTRMLA’s November Vote

Critics have pointed out that the CTRMLA’s own initiative text lacks specific information on cannabis bans. Instead of specific wording providing clear exclusions for people with cannabis on their records, they circumvent the issue by proposing criminal justice reform.

Also, employers can maintain their anti-cannabis policies. While we’re all for private companies doing what they want, if cannabis is legal in your state, it’s annoying to be drug tested for things you do outside of work and play.

While it’s becoming more common (and accepted) in America to prioritize certain applicants based on their gender or race (as opposed to merit), the CTRMLA initiative doesn’t address the issue in this way.

Instead, they want the new bureaucracy to prioritize applicants on a “social justice” basis, but only through the job program. In other words, you may need to complete Maoist battle sessions before getting your commercial cannabis license.

Their demand that regulators “make a deal” with addiction programs could serve to win over the more conservative-minded Ohioans.

Ultimately, however, classifying habitual behaviors as “disorders” or as the result of external forces undermines individuals’ ability to rationally evaluate their substance use.

Of course, the organization’s name, Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, tells us everything we need to know.

Ohio shouldn’t regulate cannabis like alcohol. Alcohol is a poison. Too much of it and you die. Too much over a long period of time and you die from smoking cessation.

Cannabis is a medicinal herb. There is no fatal overdose. It needs just as much regulation as your locally grown tomato.

However, if your options are a total ban or a softened version of it according to CTRMLA, then the latter is often (but not always) the better option.

So, will Ohio legalize cannabis? We’ll find out in November.