By Alan Johnson
COLUMBUS – A historic law giving Ohioans with certain medical conditions the right to use medical marijuana could be approved by lawmakers today and sent to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
There are still several moving parts. An Ohio Senate committee and the full Senate must approve House Bill 523. Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, said he is not confident he has the votes to pass the marijuana bill, noting that about half his caucus does not support it. He declined to say if he would vote for it, though most Democrats are expected to back the bill.
“We’ll see what the final product is,” he said, noting there are still negotiations ongoing with the Marijuana Policy Project, the parent group pushing the November marijuana ballot issue in Ohio.
If the Senate does vote for it, House must then agree with changes made to the legislation. Assuming both chambers approve — lawmakers won’t be back for session until after the November election — the bill goes to Kasich, a Republican, who said Tuesday he favors the concept of medical marijuana. As for the specific bill, “I have to look at it,” he said.
But Kasich said he will “as actively as my body can carry me” oppose any ballot issue amending the constitution and allow smoking and home-grown marijuana.
Passage of the bill in Ohio would mean half the states, plus the District of Columbia, allow medical marijuana in some form.
The bill would bar patients from smoking the substance but allow them to use it in vapor form. They couldn’t grow it at home.
Communities could opt out of hosting dispensaries, and employers who want to maintain drug-free workplaces would be protected from liability.
The bill would create a nine-member Medical Marijuana Control Commission to set rules for cultivating, distributing and licensing cannabis.