COLUMBUS – The stage is set for a high-stakes game of power politics as Ohioans decide whether they want to legalize the personal and medicinal use of marijuana.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted certified on Wednesday that ResponsibleOhio has enough valid signatures of registered voters to qualify its marijuana legalization issue for the Nov. 3 ballot.
“By reforming marijuana laws in November, we’ll provide compassionate care to sick Ohioans, bring money back to our local communities and establish a new industry with limitless economic development opportunities,” ResponsibleOhio executive director Ian James said.
The Ohio Ballot Board will meet on August 18 to determine the amendment’s ballot language and probably designate it Issue 3 on the ballot.
The proposed amendment would allow adults 21 and over to buy marijuana and establish a network of 10 authorized growing locations around the state.
Voters also will see an anti-monopoly constitutional amendment on the ballot, hurriedly cobbled together by state lawmakers in June. That amendment aims to derail the marijuana issue by preventing economic monopolies from being carved into the Ohio Constitution.
What remains unclear is what happens if voters approve both issues. Husted offered his opinion that the anti-monopoly issue would prevail because a legislative-initiated amendment takes effect earlier than a citizen-initiated issue. The matter is almost certain to wind up in court.
The marijuana fight also pits a group of well-heeled investors against the majority of the state’s elected officials, including Gov. John Kasich, who opposes legalization.
Husted announced late Wednesday that ResponsibleOhio turned in 44,185 valid supplemental signatures in addition to 276,082 names previously, an amount which fell short of the number needed. The combination of the two submissions brought the total to 320,267 signatures, more than the minimum 305,591 needed to qualify for the November ballot as a proposed constitutional amendment.