COLUMBUS, Ohio – A proposed constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana and hemp in Ohio has cleared the first step on the path to making the ballot.
The petition, titled “Legalize Marijuana and Hemp in Ohio,” is one of five marijuana-related constitutional amendment proposals submitted to Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office in the past few months and the second to have cleared the initial hurdle.
The other certified petition is a for-profit marijuana legalization effort from a group called ResponsibleOhio.
A group called Better for Ohio submitted its petition to DeWine’s office on April 28th and the attorney general’s office on Thursday certified that it contained both the necessary 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters and a “fair and truthful” summary of the proposed amendment.
The proposal still would have to be evaluated by the Ohio Ballot Board and meet a broader signature-collection requirement to appear on the ballot.
Better for Ohio would have to collect signatures from registered voters in 44 counties equal to 5 percent of the total vote cast in each county for governor at the last gubernatorial election. The total number of signatures collected statewide must also equal 10 percent of the total vote cast.