Ballot Initiatives Seek Legal Marijuana in Ohio

Two Groups are Seeking Separate Amendments to Fully Legalize Cannabis for Adults

The Buckeye State could have legal marijuana soon. Two groups have announced their intention to take the issue directly to voters. There are big differences between the concepts.

Responsible Ohio wants to license 10 marijuana centers across the state that would exclusively handle the cannabis. They are aiming for the ballot this year in November 2015.

Ohioans To End Prohibition are looking at a broader approach. They are looking ahead towards the 2016 election with a constitutional amendment that would not cap the number of marijuana retailers and also legalize industrial hemp. Their plan would also allow for home cultivation, something that is also allowed under Colorado’s Amendment 64.

Ballot initiatives were the mechanism that was utilized for marijuana reform in Oregon, Alaska, Washington, Colorado and the Direct of Columbia. No state legislature has made the move yet for fully legal cannabis.

Cleveland.com points out that getting enough signatures to qualify is a big task.

Once language is approved, the groups would need to collect more than 305,591 valid signatures — meeting a threshold from 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. read full story

Those signatures must be from voters registered in the respective counties.

The biggest news in Ohio marijuana last year was Cleveland Brown’s wide-receiver Josh Gordon testing positive for THC. After the talented player came under fire it promoted a lot of talk within the league about marijuana for recreation and medication. Gordon originally received a year-long suspension from the NFL. That was reduced to 10 games after a change in the rules for such offenses.

Professional players, even in legal states, must abide by rules governing their sport. So even if one of the ballot initiatives succeeds don’t expect there to be vaporizers in the Brown’s locker room …yet.