Marijuana legalization amendment approved for Ohio's November ballot (Columbus: 2015, crimes)

[Townes Van Zandt]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio voters will decide this fall whether to legalize marijuana in the Buckeye State for recreational and medical use.

ResponsibleOhio's marijuana legalization constitutional amendment was certified Wednesday by the Ohio secretary of state. It will appear as Issue 3 on the statewide ballot for the general election on Nov. 3.

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[Natural510]

It's a long shot, but hopefully supporters will show up to vote for it in an off-year election.

[no1brownsfan]

Despite the fact that 70% of Ohioans support legalization for medicinal purposes, and just over 50% support legalization for recreational use, if history is any indicator, I don't think it will pass the first go around. Look at how many failed attempts to legalize casinos before they were actually approved by the voters. I'm also a bit on the fence about the language of this bill, which in essence is setting up a legal cartel via the Ohio Constitution creating a monopoly and restricting the free market. Not to mention southeast Ohio which has been known for growing large amounts of cannabis is essentially being left off of the list for 1 of the 10 grow sites! I do like the fact that an individual can possess up to 4 mature plants and 8 ozs of cannabis for personal use.

The other thing I want to know is about my 2nd Amendment rights? In states where folks have a medical card, they are denied that right. A lot of it is due to it's schedule 1 status and illegality on the federal level. But what I find hypocritical is that I can have a 12 pack in my refrigerator and still have a firearm, and yet I can't possess an oz of weed and own one or obtain a CCW should I be inclined to do so? Think about this... who is more likely the one to act out in a more violent manner? The guy who wacked down a 12 pack, or the guy who took a few hits off a bowl? Another question I have is what about me, a grown adult having it in my possession with a minor in the house? Is that going to be an issue? Because if so, why then can I have a 12 pack in my refrigerator, but it would be a problem if I had an oz of weed?

I fully support legalization, and I think it is time to end the war on weed. It is based on nothing but lies, propaganda, pandering to special interests and is basically a total farce! Not to mention prohibition as history has shown is a total failure, and does nothing but create a black market, thus causing more crimes! However; this bill has a lot of holes in it, and I think there is a better way. Like I said, I'm on the fence, and would love to hear the libertarian party's proposal, as they along with Ohio's green party oppose the language in this bill. Prohibition needs to end, but there has to be a better way.

[woxyroxme]

There are a lot of bad things in this proposal.

Anyone who grows marijuana and sells some to a friend could face a year in prison.

Too much pot - still a felony

Taxes on legal pot will be so high that your illegal dealer will still be cheaper.

[Señor Slick]

Originally Posted by woxyroxme

There are a lot of bad things in this proposal.

Anyone who grows marijuana and sells some to a friend could face a year in prison. Isn't that the way it is now? At least it will be legal to grow some .... and you can't sell to anyone but you can share it with anyone over 21 years of age.

Too much pot - still a felony How much weed do you need?

Taxes on legal pot will be so high that your illegal dealer will still be cheaper. Just a guess on your part regarding pricing.

There are a lot of good things in this proposal. And the good things far outweigh the bad.

[Natural510]

So even though you can grow your own, and buy it at the store like any other adult product, it should remain illegal and people (mostly young men) should continue to go to jail and people of all ages should be forced to buy it on the black market...just because you want to sell some to your bro and not pay any taxes on it?

[Townes Van Zandt]

A little Econ 101, as this seems to be a source of confusion/misinformation.

This amendment is not proposing a monopoly. Early on this term was thrown around recklessly. Some were (and are) upset that this amendment would restrict growing operations to 10 grow sites which are owned by the same 10 people who put forward the millions of dollars necessary to bring this amendment to the ballot. There is no single owner, hence there will be no monopoly.

To the extent that this amendment represents an oligopoly, it's relatively harmless. By the same logic all public services, public utilities, and cable/internet providers would be considered state-sponsored monopolies or oligopolies. I find it very odd that otherwise "liberal" voters randomly choose marijuana as the tipping point. I imagine their thought process is something like: woah woah, okay. You can legally restrict competition when it comes to my water, gas, electricity, internet, television, and most basic pillars of modern American life -- but weed?? You crossed the line there, my friend! No one thinks this way, and the number of people I see online arguing in exactly this fashion is odd.

Finally, it's important to make the distinction between grow sites and retail outlets. This amendment provides over 1,000 retail licenses to sell weed. These retail locations will not be owned by the same 10 people.

tl,dr: Ohio has a chance to make history. Do you really believe that the state and the feds will allow these 10 grow sites to last forever? Or even a decade? Federal legalization is coming soon. When it does, you'd better believe that Ohio will follow whatever precedent the feds set. Let these 10 dudes make their cash now. The FTC will handle them once the rest of the nation catches up.

Note: I've been noticing a lot of spam posts in multiple locations (Twitter, forums, Reddit) repeating the same lines and essentially begging people to wait a year for some other legalization bill(OTEC or something). It's important to realize that these other proposals don't have the cash to bring their ideas to fruition or else it would've happened by now. Not to mention I find this behavior highly suspicious. Most voters aren't familiar with the specifics of bills/amendments that haven't even become official yet. I'm not involved with anyone's campaign/initiative, but I get the feeling it's the same few people spamming different information outlets. I'd expect to see them in this thread soon enough.

[Zen_master]

Can you post info on who/where the distribution licenses will be setup?

[Townes Van Zandt]

Originally Posted by Zen_master

Can you post info on who/where the distribution licenses will be setup?

I found this on their website's FAQs page:

Tier III – Retail: Local Ohio-based entrepreneurs who are 21 years of age or older will be required to obtain local precinct voter approval before being licensed to open a Retail Marijuana Store. This process is similar to Ohio’s long ago established alcohol permitting process. Only those who are 21 years of age or older will be permitted to purchase marijuana. No one under the age of 21 may be employed by or enter the Retail Store. Selling to people under the age of 21 subjects the offender to a jail sentence. Retailers will have to be no less than 1000 feet from a school, publicly owned library, licensed day care or house of worship.

Check out their website: Responsible Ohio

[Zen_master]

Thanks KSU_SUCKS. IMO the major benefit to the legislation is the decriminalization of possession. I'm not an advocate for chronic drug use and frankly stoner culture is folly in my opinion. But, I do not think the state should be locking up non-violent drug offenders. And even if they are currently not going away to prison for possession now, parole violations attributable to possession or paraphernalia does contribute to needless recidivism.