COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize the use of marijuana in the state.
DeWine on Monday rejected the proposal saying the petition’s summary was not “fair and truthful.”
A DeWine spokesman says the proposed regulatory scheme did not restrict the use of cannabis to medicinal purposes.
DeWine in a statement explained some of the “defects” in the ballot summary of the End Ohio Cannabis Prohibition Act of 2012 proposed by the group Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis:
-The summary omits references to amendment language which repudiates federal cannabis prohibitions.
-The summary omits references to amendment language that persons cannot be considered to be under the influence of cannabis “solely because of the presence of metabolites or components of cannabis in his or her body.”
-The summary states that educational courses may be held by licensed commercial production companies or educational institutions to teach people, among other things, about “medical harms or benefits from the personal use of cannabis products.” However, no such language referencing medical harms or benefits exists in the amendment.
-The summary omits references to amendment language that confer new duties and responsibilities on the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Commerce.
The proponents needed DeWine’s approval before gathering the roughly 386,000 valid signatures needed by next July to get the issue before voters in Nov. 2014.
Once the summary language and initial signatures are certified by DeWine, the Ohio Ballot Board would determine if the amendment contains a single issue or multiple issues. The group will then have to collect signatures for each issue from registered voters in each of 44 counties equal to 5 percent of the total vote cast in the county for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.