COLUMBUS – A group working to legalize marijuana use in Ohio is also moving ahead with its effort to create a way to purge old pot-related convictions made obsolete if the pot ballot issue passes in November.
ResponsibleOhio is behind the pot legalization effort and says it turned in 236,759 Tuesday for the so-called Fresh Start Act, which will try to have approved next year.
“Our current system is unfair and unjust, and we have the chance to fix it once voters approve Issue 3 and legalize marijuana. The Fresh Start Act will provide a second chance that so many folks need and deserve to get on with their lives,” executive director Ian James said.
One of the groups working to defeat Issue 3, Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies, calls the petition drive an act of “distortion out of desperation” by trying to drum up support for the marijuana ballot issue by campaigning for the Fresh Start Act.
The proposal calls for reviewing sentences and expunging criminal records for people with previous marijuana convictions if their actions would no longer be considered illegal if the proposed constitutional amendment is approved.
“When Issue 3 passes in November, many marijuana-related crimes will no longer be illegal. It’s time to do the right thing by giving those with previous convictions a clean slate and a fresh start,” said Christine Link, executive director of the Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU is also supporting Issue 3, saying that marijuana criminalization causes too many people, a disproportionate number of them minorities, to be imprisoned for non-violent offenses
The convictions often have long-term consequences after the offender’s prison sentence has ended, Link says. An American Bar Association study found more than 300 legal consequences for a single misdemeanor conviction in Ohio, which impact the offender’s ability to get a job, public housing, and even the loss of eligibility for financial aid for higher education.
ResponsibleOhio needs some 92,000 valid signatures to get the issue before state lawmakers next year.
Legislators would need to act within the first four months of 2016 or supporters could potentially put the issue to voters next fall.
The group says it would continue to seek changes for pot-related convictions even if marijuana isn’t legalized.