Ohio Set to Become 5th State to Legalize Recreational Cannabis in a Three Year Period
In just days, on November 3rd, voters in Ohio voters will decide the fate of Issue 3, which would legalize recreational cannabis for those 21 and older (some have already voted through the state’s early voting process). If passed into law, Ohio would become the 5th state in the U.S. to legalize recreational cannabis in just a three year period (from November, 2012 to November, 2015), marking 10% of the entire nation.
Issue 3 would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis for those 21 and older, while also legalizing the distribution of cannabis through state-licensed cannabis retail outlets. The cultivation of up to four flowering cannabis plants would also be allowed for those who receive a $50 license from the Ohio Marijuana Control Commission (those who receive a license would be allowed to possess up to eight ounces, rather than the standard one).
There is a provision in Issue 3 that has drawn the ire of many, including both proponents and opponents of legalization. That provision would guarantee the state’s ten cultivation centers to investors of the initiative, establishing what many – including the state in their official summary of the measure – call a monopoly. However, despite the clear problems with this provision, it alone doesn’t change the massive positive impact the rest of the initiative would have, including putting an end to thousands of arrests and creating tens of thousands of new jobs.
Recent polling, which was released after early voting began, shows the initiative on track to pass. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found that 53% of voters in Ohio support legalizing recreational cannabis, 9% more than those who oppose it (44%). This week, a Kent State University poll, which asked specifically about Issue 3, found 56% of voters to be in support of the initiative, the clearest sign yet that it will pass.
Obviously polling doesn’t tell the full answer, and we won’t know the final results until the votes are tallied, but it’s looking more and more like the U.S. will soon have five states where cannabis is openly sold to anyone 21 and older, which is incredible when you consider that just four years ago there weren’t any.
– TheJointBlog
Ashley. C
They need to legalize it Kentucky.
Anonymous
they wont don’t worry
Jklein
I hope so but it will be a while before it happens.
David
This article omits the fact that, under the initiative, Ohioans will be able to cultivate 4 flowering plants (no limit on vegetative), and possess up to 8 ounces of usable cannabis for a $50 “licensing” fee. Medical cannabis will be tax-free for qualified patients.
Ohio’s legislature has also created issue 2 which will render issue 3 null and void should that initiative pass, EVEN IF BOTH ISSUES PASS.
Ohioans must vote NO ON #2 and YES ON #3 to enjoy legal cannabis!
Anonymous
You can read the amendment here: http://yeson3ohio.com/the-amendment/
Joe J
Some of this info is inaccurate. If passed we’ll be able to have unlimited plants growing but only 4 flowering. We can up to 8 oz of usable marijuana on us. The rest is similar to Colorado legislation.
Barbara Dayan
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Smoke Prone
Excellent stuff. The best news is more people find out about and support marijuana every day. I owe it to websites like this that I even know.
Anonymous
Sweet
Christopher M. Kennard
Down here in Florida, we have several proposed ballot initiatives to legalize cannabis, at least five at last count.
At least two, perhaps even three of these state constitutional ballots have a chance to pass; the MEDICAL MARIJUANA provision supported by millionaire attorney John Morgan; one called REGULATE FLORIDA, and a third ballot petition initiative, which I whole-heartedly support ; RIGHT OF ADULTS TO CANNABIS, a short, clear and concise one page, short four sentence long text, establishing the state constitutional right of all people . . . .
“All people in the State of Florida twenty-one years of age and older shall have the right under state laws to possession, use, and cultivation of cannabis. This right shall not be infringed except that the transfer of cannabis by purchase or sale may be regulated as necessary to ensure health and safety.
“Cannabis” in this section is defined as all parts of any plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not, and the seeds thereof.
The provisions of this section are severable and if any clause or sentence of this measure, or an application thereof, is adjudged invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, other provisions shall continue to be in effect to the fullest extent possible.”
Pretty simple language, nice short and sweet. It covers tourists or any other adult visiting Florida, including patients who have certificates for medical marijuana from other states who otherwise would be subject to arrest,
and anyone who is over the age of twenty-one.
Many Florida voters, like myself, support the passage of the MEDICAL MARIJUANA provision which nearly passed in 2014, except for all the corrupt money fueling false information ads; still we came up to 57.6 % of the vote. If the Tea Party dominated Florida branch of the Republican Party had not raised the bar to pass constitutional laws by citizen led initiatives to 60% to stop Floridians from bypassing the Florida State Legislature, we would have won.
Both the RIGHT OF ADULTS TO CANNABIS and the MEDICAL MARIJUANA ballot petition drives will likely gather the number of petitions, nearly 1 million, to place this on the election ballot for Election Day, Nov. 8, 2016. This election year cycle, given the greater number of people who vote during Presidential elections, and both issues complementing each other so well, I believe they both stand a good to excellent chance of passing in 2016.
Like folks in Ohio, our own elected officials are fighting against the interests of their constituents . . . average citizens who use to be able to trust their local, state and federal politicians . . . but not so much any more. Most people in most states around the country are realizing that we may need to sweep most politicians out of office and start with a clean slate.
And not everyone running needs to be chronologically young, either. I have an old comrade against war in Bernie Sanders, who was a Conscientious Objector during the Vietnam War as I was. Bernie Sanders has stayed honest, consistent, progressive, and very clear as to the path this country needs to consider following, i.e. that we are all linked together by a common bond of being American citizens. We need to put our collective energies together rather than the foolish “competitive” theory that everyone cutting each others’ throats to clamber to the top is a positive, self-sustaining model of human behavior designed to further the best interests of the majority.
It is my sincere, deeply held belief that their are many throughout our country who realize it is the “positive aura” of ending the prohibition of cannabis for medical and recreational use that will draw people closer together and find new common ground as a result. We can do this, peacefully, with good karmic energy that will imbue our nation and the people within it in the best of all ways.
Hope to hear back from some folks in Ohio . . . these are interesting times, no?
Peace Love Light within and with each and everyone, always . . . .
lead all of which are citizen created citizen supported and will succeed despite how corrupt, inept, and generally disgraceful the conduct of both the current Florida State Legislature and a crazy off the wall Governor Scott who would be an entertaining clown in the political arena except for the rapidly growing environmental damage he and his shadowy business conglomerates Florida State Constitution Amendment