Get Your Walking Shoes On Ohioans, Cannabis Needs Signatures To Get On November Ballot

As expected, Ohio lawmakers took no action Wednesday to enact a cannabis legalization proposal, essentially allowing it to lapse, thereby opening the door to supporters to move forward and begin collecting signatures to get the proposal on the ballot this coming November. 

Now What?

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol is planning to pick up where it left off, that is, getting back out on the street. The coalition needs to gather some 124,000 signatures from 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties before the July 5 deadline, a task many believe can be successfully undertaken.

“It’s going to be on the ballot and it’s going to pass,” Tom Haren, a spokesman for the Coalition told the Ohio Capital Journal (CPJ).

Legalizing adult-use marijuana, says the CPJ, can work alongside Ohio’s medical marijuana program. Under the Coalition's proposal, medical patients and people over 21  would be able to buy products at existing medical marijuana dispensaries. It is the same system Maryland intends to undertake when it launches legal weed sales on July 1. 

Ballot to legalize recreational cannabis may be on November's ballot - Ohio Capital Journal…your choice Ohio to support a bill at the ballot box and/or a legislative bill soon to be introduced #ohioadultchoicecannabis #criminaljusticereform https://t.co/DovynALR3L

— Tim Johnson CSF (@TimJohnsonCSF) May 3, 2023

The legalization measure allows for the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana or 15 grams of extract by those over 21. Adult Ohioans could purchase marijuana at retail locations or grow up to 12 plants in a private residence where at least two adults reside. Retail cannabis products would be taxed at 10 percent. Municipalities can opt out of allowing retail sales if a majority of elected officials decide in favor of an ordinance to do so.

Photo: Ohio Capital Journal Twitter