COLUMBUS, Ohio – Locations in Grove City and Pataskala would be home to two marijuana-growing operations if voters approve an issue that might be on the ballot in November.
According to a report in the Columbus Dispatch, the amendment’s ballot language says total of 345 acres in 10 counties would be set aside for growing and processing marijuana if the ballot issue is successful on Nov. 3.
The issue would also make Ohio the first state to go from a complete ban on marijuana use to allowing medical and recreational use in one vote.
The language of the full proposed constitutional amendment, backed by the group ResponsibleOhio, says other locations are in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, Lorain, Lucas, Montgomery, Stark and Summit counties.
The group first needs to gather 1,000 signatures on a petition and have its ballot language signed off on by the Ohio Attorney General and Ballot Board before it can begin gathering hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to have the issue placed on the ballot.
The Pataskala site is a short distance away from Licking Heights High School while the Grove City location is off I-71 near the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill, the newspaper reported.
Each site would be owned by individuals or companies investing in the ballot issue, giving them the right to profit from the marijuana industry that presumably would develop if the ballot issue were to pass.
The plan also includes retail outlets and medical marijuana dispensaries. The full petition language includes previously undisclosed stipulations, such as a provision that would override all “zoning, land-use law or subdivision or agricultural regulation” unless the facilities are proposed for a residential district.
The text of the amendment also includes a provision that would create a Marijuana Control Commission to add to the number of growing sites after four years if the supply of marijuana being grown in Ohio isn’t meeting consumer demand. It also could remove growers.