COLUMBUS – The future of marijuana in Ohio did not necessarily go up in smoke with Tuesday’s rejection of a ballot measure that would have legalized the substance for medical and personal use.
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The proposal voters rejected Tuesday is expected to be followed next year by a more conventional legalization initiative, one that doesn’t include exclusive growing rights for private investors. That provision was targeted successfully by opponents.
ResponsibleOhio marijuana investor Dr. Suresh Gupta said Wednesday the marijuana campaign that stumbled badly on Tuesday will be back, possibly next year, with a plan that doesn’t involve a monopoly.
“Absolutely. We’re not here to run away,” said Gupta, a Dayton anesthesiologist and pain-management physician who owns a proposed pot-growing site in Pataskala.
A representative of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, which opposed Tuesday’s initiative, said “it’s not over and done.”
Meanwhile, after years of resistance, Republican legislative leaders are now heading down the path toward legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. Early talk began Wednesday on legislative action legalizing medical marijuana in some form.
Speaker Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville) says the legislative plan is to engage the medical community, possibly including state funding for studies, and release a series of bills and resolutions in the coming weeks, with potential action next year. They will include a pilot program to allow certain people to use the substance and a resolution urging Congress to drop marijuana to a lower drug classification.
Despite the crushing defeat of Issue 3, polls have shown significant support in Ohio for legalized medical marijuana.
Rosenberger told reporters Wednesday that his caucus was still getting organized as to how to proceed. He says he expects to have more details in the coming weeks about a series of resolutions and legislative steps on medical marijuana.