Updated: 6:41 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 | Posted: 6:18 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015

Marijuana issue ballot language must change, Ohio Supreme Court says

By AP AP

Staff Writer

COLUMBUS — 

Ohio’s Supreme Court says part of the ballot wording describing a proposal to legalize marijuana in the state is misleading and has ordered a state board to rewrite it.

Supporters of the measure, known as Issue 3, had challenged the phrasing that was set to appear before voters in the Nov. 3 election as inaccurate and deliberately misleading. Attorneys for the state’s elections chief had argued the nearly 500-word ballot language was fair.

The high court sided with the supporters Wednesday. In its decision, the court orders the state’s Ballot Board to reconvene and replace sections about where retail stores can open, the amount of marijuana the initiative allows and the mechanism for adding growing facilities.

The court upheld the phrasing of the ballot issue’s title.

The proposed constitutional amendment will still appear on ballots.

HUSTED REACTS

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted released the following statement in the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling in The State ex rel. ResponsibleOhio vs. Ohio Ballot Board et al., specifically the court’s affirmation of the State Issue 3 ballot title where the court stated that “Husted’s ballot title is not ‘inaccurate, incorrect, or illegal,’ ‘confusing, misleading, or argumentative,’ or persuasive in nature.” The following may be attributed to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted:

“Today, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed with me, the dictionary, common sense and many news publications across our state that State Issue 3 would create a marijuana monopoly in Ohio and that the voters deserve to be given that information before casting their ballots.

“I have an obligation to present the people of Ohio with accurate information to help them make an honest and educated decision on Election Day.

“I will convene the Ohio Ballot Board this week where we should easily be able to make the technical changes the court requested to the language it approved so county boards of elections across our state can make final preparations for this fall’s election.”

MARIJUANA: OHIO DECIDES TOWN HALL FORUM

Where: Sinclair Community College, Building 12, Smith Auditorium, 444 W. Third Street, Dayton.

Parking: Parking lot on 4th Street under Building 12. Street parking also available.

Time: 7-8:30 p.m.

Questions: Send us your questions in advance by going to our Ohio Politics Facebook page or email them to us at anthony.shoemaker@coxinc.com.

Listen live: If you can’t make it to the event, you can listen live on AM1290 and News 95.7 WHIO. The event will also stream live online at WHIO.com

Live call-in show: Join us after the forum on WHIO Radio for a call-in show starting at 8:30. Call in at (937) 457-1290

Learn more: Get answers to frequently asked questions, read past stories on the marijuana ballot issue and more at DaytonDailyNews.com/ohiomarijuana

SPECIAL EDITION OF WHIO REPORTS

WHIO Reports host Jim Otte and Columbus Bureau reporter Laura Bischoff will talk to experts on the marijuana issue during a special edition of WHIO Reports airing on Channel 7 on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 11:30 a.m.

COMING SUNDAY

Our Statehouse reporter Laura Bischoff was in Seattle this week to see how Washington state deals with legalized marijuana for recreational and medical use. Look for her special report in Sunday’s Dayton Daily News and watch videos from Washington at MyDaytonDailyNews.com

Updated: 4:54 p.m. Friday, March 20, 2015 | Posted: 12:00 a.m. Sunday, March 22, 2015

Is Ohio ready for marijuana legalization?

By Vivienne Machi

Staff Writer

BUTLER COUNTY — 

    Is 2015 the year to bring marijuana to the people of Ohio? Legalization advocates say residents are ready; some policy experts say maybe not just yet.

    Three issues involving medical marijuana legalization have been approved by the Ohio State Board of Elections and are working on signatures to get onto the ballot, and one more issue that would allow 10 grow sites for medical and recreational marijuana is just one step away from doing the same. Advocates argue that Ohioans are ready for marijuana, though some Butler County cities have made it clear that marijuana isn’t welcome in their borders.

    Rob Ryan, president of the nonprofit NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) Ohio, said that   “Ohio and the nation are ready for marijuana legalization.”

    “Maybe 10 years ago, if you asked, do you think we should legalize marijuana, you would hear the answer no, but when you asked, do you think we should tax and regulate marijuana, they said yes, and that’s the same question,” he said.   “Now, you’re asking if we should legalize marijuana; it’s the same question, and the answers are overwhelmingly yes.”

    David Niven, political science professor at the University of Cincinnati and past speechwriter for former Ohio Governor and current U.S. Senate candidate Ted Strickland, said that while marijuana legalization is clearly more popular now than it was several years ago, he doesn’t see 2015 as the year it happens.

    “It’s more of a policy question today than a flat-out policy assumption a few years ago,” he said. “There’s at least the conversation started and even if they get on the ballot and lose, it still advances the conversation.”

    Marijuana is now legal in five states across the country and Washington, D.C., and medical marijuana use is legal in 23 states. But despite movement in places like Colorado and Alaska, Niven doesn’t think Ohioans can expect the same outcome here yet.

    “I don’t think that Ohio has the libertarian government strain that you see in states where the marijuana legalization movement had its first successes,” he said. “The politics of Ohio on the left and right are more accepting of rules, so we’ve been and will be behind the country in terms of any movement of marijuana acceptance.”

    Ryan noted that Section 538 of the Omnibus Bill passed by Congress that approves spending through September 30, 2015, specifically says that none of the funding may be used to prevent states where at least a limited medical marijuana law has been enacted from implementing their own states laws to legalize use, distribution, cultivation or possession.

    “Congress is not a bastion of libertarianism, and they passed that as part of their budget for 2015,” he said.

Hamilton resident Anthony Weisenberger, an Army veteran who has used marijuana to help mitigate the symptoms of Crohn’s disease said he thinks that support for legalization is probably a lot higher than what meets the eye, as many people won’t actively voice their approval for fear of punishment.

    “They’re falling short in having people come out and support, for fear of being labeled a pothead,” he said. A NORML supporter, Weisenberger doesn’t think it’s a question of if marijuana is legalized in Ohio, but when, and that time could be now.

Boosting tax revenues?

    Proponents say tax revenues generated from the sales of legal marijuana will be significant, but opponents argue promises of a big haul from marijuana taxes will not happen and point to newly released statistics from Colorado’s first year of legalizing marijuana production and sales. Officials reported $44 million in new taxes on recreational marijuana but those new taxes were initially forecast to bring in about $70 million.

    Organizers of Responsible Ohio, one of the groups pushing for marijuana legalization, are proposing a five-percent retail tax rate while wholesalers and manufacturers contribute 15 percent, in an effort to smother black markets. Lydia Bolander, spokesperson for ResponsibleOhio, said that while she didn’t have an exact amount of tax revenue increase in the first year of legalization, did say, “this will be a significant boost to the economy, potentially millions of dollars for individual counties, depending on how big their population is.”

    She added there could be as many as 1,150 retail stores across the state selling marijuana and that their plan would create a statewide industry generating approximately “$4.2 billion in economic activity by 2020,” but Responsible Ohio is “still vetting that projection.”

    A local economist says there’s no question legalizing marijuana will raise some revenues, but what impact will that create on society? University of Cincinnati Economics Center Director of Research Michael Jones said, “if you look at the black market, the prices, of course, are still lower than what they are when you impose the taxation fee. And if you legalize marijuana, there’s less of a concern about being caught with it, so there’s more reason to continue to participate in the black market if you already are.”

Are Ohioans ready to vote for legalization?

    Middletown resident Brandon Murphy called the issue of marijuana legalization “long overdue.”

    “Socially, it’s pretty accepted, it’s one of the more common drugs that everybody uses,” he said. “I personally don’t care for it, but at the same time, I feel safer around people who smoke marijuana than around people who drink beer.”

Ryan compiled data from various national polls over the decades, and points to 1989 as the year of the turning point toward consistently more positive attitudes regarding marijuana legalization.

    “I’ve come to the conclusion of why that happened at that point in time, and that’s when the Internet came into people’s homes and that’s when you could learn that the government stance that says marijuana is a Schedule I drug has no basis in fact,” he said.

    An array of celebrities and public figures have come out in recent years saying they’ve dabbled in marijuana, and an overall tolerance for marijuana seems to grow with every state that legalizes marijuana, which may contribute to Ohio supporters looking to November with dreams of success.A 2014 Quinnipiac University poll found that 78 percent of Ohio voters supported medical marijuana, and 54 percent supported an adult being allowed a small amount for personal use.

    But Niven says it will take more than that to sway the voters on the fence.

    “What might be helpful would be a central, sympathetic figure,” he said. “Forget about Hollywood or a college student, they need some prominent person with an illness who says, this is what can get me through the day. That’s the kind of person that would shape the conversation.”

    Local municipalities have made their opinion clear in recent months, with Hamilton’s City Council voting in February to ban medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits ahead of any state legislation. The city of Middletown is also looking for any option available to keepResponsibleOhio from establishing a grow site within its limits, after it was discovered that the group was eyeing a site just on the border of Middletown and Monroe for one of its 10 grow sites.

    More to the point, it’s unlikely that all four issues will make it onto the ballot, Niven said, pointing to the high cost of running a campaign, from the finances to the organization to gathering enough signatures.

    “I think (ResponsibleOhio) has the best chance of getting on the ballot because they have created such a financial incentive for their backers, but they are probably the weakest vehicle to get it passed,” he said. They give opponents multiple angles to critique; not just the general notion of marijuana legalization but the proposal to have “10 marijuana superbrokers” controlling all the production in the state, he continued.

    Ryan spoke at the Mar. 9 Ohio Task Force on Community-Police Relations in Cincinnati and called for the need to start “a serious, real dialogue on ending this war on drugs starting with re-legalization of marijuana.”

    “I firmly believe that people need to be responsible for their actions and their consequences…I do not support or condone drug abuse but what we’re doing today is not working and is actually counterproductive,” he said.

But where are the heavy hitters?

    With the exception of ResponsibleOhio, who has enlisted several regional figures as backers for their project — such as Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati Royals fame and Frostee Tucker, former Cincinnati Bengals player who currently plays defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals, real estate developers, a fashion designer and a sports agent — what the advocacy groups lack is the political power on their side, and trying to create your own political army is no joke, Niven said.

    “The parties aren’t going to endorse this, and without any prominent political organizations joining the fight, it’s such an enormous battle to get things on the ballot,” he said. “300,000 signatures is not child’s play, and the fastest way to signatures is money.”

    Most likely, marijuana legalization will go through the same process as Ohio’s casinos, where the issue lost again and again at the polls until finally, the timing and language matched up and it passed.

    “For the casinos, what happened was the economy was so bad that people were desperate for anything that might create jobs,” he said. “I think the marijuana folks have to face the reality that it took casinos time after time of getting rejected and getting the right moment to push through.

    And what if this just isn’t the right year?

    “2015 would be a terrible year for these folks to move forward, so if they actually go for the ballot, it would be quite a half-baked proposition to go in 2015, due to low turnout,” Niven said. “They would be better served to wait until 2016 where more voters are going to show up.”

    Ryan said that while he was initially surprised that these groups would attempt to take their issue to the ballot a year before a presidential campaign, traditionally a better turnout year, in the case of ResponsibleOhio’s proposal at least, it could work to their advantage.

    “I think the way they structured the tax revenue with 85 percent going to the municipalities, with a number of areas in Ohio that are hurting because of how the taxes are distributed for the cities versus the counties, there could be increasing support for it and it may drive turnout that maybe wouldn’t be there in the 2015 election,” he said.

    But whether the proposal that makes it onto the ballot is for purely medical marijuana, for creating a statewide industry, or they all get squashed, the conversation is moving forward.

    “This is where it does matter which proposals come through, do we really want all people to have access to marijuana, or do we want it to be medical patients, or do we want 10 people ruling Ohio,” Niven said. “It really does matter which ideas move forward; it’s going to be an entirely differently debate.”

Staff writer Laura Bischoff and the Alternative Press contributed to this report.

IN-DEPTH COVERAGE

This is the first of a three-part series looking at the possible impact of marijuana legalization in Ohio. Watch for articles in Monday and Tuesday’s editions highlighting the health arguments and business impacts as groups work to bring marijuana legalization to the ballot in November.

PENDING STATEWIDE BALLOT ISSUES

The Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment

From the Ohio Patients Network, currently gathering signatures. This amendment would:

·                       Allow doctors to recommend up to 3.5 ounces of marijuana for treatment to adults for a qualifying medical condition,

·                       Establishes a registry program for medical use

·                       Allows the state to redistribute funds generated through the registry program toward funding for law enforcement, public education, and safety resources

·                       Establishes limitations on the centers where marijuana can be cultivated, who can work at those centers, and how the marijuana can be distributed.

The Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment

From the Ohio Rights Group, currently gathering signatures. This amendment would:

·                       Allow adults with a qualifying medical condition to possess, acquire and produce marijuana. Children would be eligible with parents’ legal consent

·                       Allows for the commercial production of medical marijuana and industrial hemp, establishes a commission who regulate the use of medical marijuana as well as the process it’s produced in.

Marijuana Legalization Amendment

From ResponsibleOhio, approved Friday by the Ohio Ballot Board to begin gathering signatures. It would establish:

·                       10 legal growing locations that are at least 1,000 feet from schools, day care centers, churches or libraries;

·                       A seven-member Marijuana Control Commission to regulate growing, sales, distribution, licensing and taxing of marijuana products;

·                       5 marijuana testing facilities to check potency and safety;

·                       Not-for-profit medical marijuana dispensaries for patients with debilitating medical conditions who could buy pot at wholesale prices;

·                       A 5 percent flat tax on retail pot sales with 85 percent of the tax revenue going to local governments for services.

·                       Adults 21 and older could grow up to four plants in indoor areas inaccessible to minors. Home-grown marijuana could be shared but not sold.

Posted: 5:35 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, 2015

Middletown exploring all options to stop marijuana grow site

By Ed Richter

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — 

A day after Moraine was removed from the list of potential sites for a 100,000-square-foot indoor marijuana growing facility, Middletown city officials said they are still exploring all options to stop one from coming there, too.

City officials were taken by surprise when ResponsibleOhio announced that Middletown would be one of 10 sites across Ohio for proposed indoor marijuana growing facilities. ResponsibleOhio is the group backing a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational use in Ohio.

The proposed Middletown site, owned by Trenton-based Magnode Corp., is on two parcels, totalling more than 40 acres, off of Yankee and Todhunter roads. The land was purchased from the seller by a third party that did not indicate what the land might be used for.

Moraine officials, who were not happy once they learned about the proposed pot factory there, sought state help in getting its site removed from the grow list. City officials argued that the Moraine site would violate ResponsibleOhio’s own criteria that marijuana facilities be at least 1,000 feet away from churches, schools or playgrounds. There is a church less than 1,000 feet from the Moraine site, city officials said.

Middletown City Manager Doug Adkins said it might take some time for city officials “to fully evaluate” the situation.

“We are looking at the ballot language and other documentation that might be available to see where we might have options to explore,” Adkins said Friday.

Law Director Les Landen said he is continuing to research what the city can or cannot do. He said he wants to make sure there is some legal basis for any actions the city might take.

“We were clearly disappointed when this got dropped on us,” Landen said. “After we decide what we can do, we then need to decide what makes the best sense to us.”

Landen said Middletown is looking at possible legal options, reviewing the proposed ballot language, reviewing the land purchase contract between the buyer and seller, what could be done through the city zoning code, and what other recourse the city might have if the proposed constitutional amendment makes the ballot and is approved by voters.

Middletown Mayor Lawrence Mulligan said the city’s hands are somewhat tied because the constitutional amendment process is underway. He said the constitutional process was how the racinos were established in Ohio.

“I am curious to see how the other sites will approach this,” Mulligan said.

On Thursday, the ResponsibleOhio organization announced that it would substitute a proposed indoor marijuana growing facility on 50.8 acres in the Moraine Commerce Park for a site in Delaware County, north of Columbus.

Moraine City Manager David Hicks said Thursday that ResponsibleOhio’s decision was no surprise. He noted the group “created a negative relationship out of the gate” by not disclosing its product or intentions.

ResponsibleOhio, which is backed by deep-pocketed investors and a team of political veterans, is seeking to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would ask voters to legalize marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes. The campaign identified 10 locations for indoor growing facilities, including sites in Middletown and Moraine, but ResponsibleOhio released new ballot language Thursday that drops Moraine.

“This change reflects a desire from both ResponsibleOhio and the property option holder to bring job growth and revenue to a location where such a venture would be supported,” said campaign spokeswoman Lydia Bolander.

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia allow for medical marijuana and four states also include recreational use. If ResponsibleOhio is successful, Ohio will become the first state in the country to go from a complete ban to full legalization.

ResponsibleOhio will re-circulate the new ballot language. Once it has 1,000 valid voter signatures, the summary language must win approval from state Attorney General Mike DeWine and then get the nod from the Ohio Ballot Board, which Secretary of State Jon Husted chairs.

Then the campaign needs to collect 305,600 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters by July 1 to get on the November 2015 statewide ballot.

Staff Writer Laura A. Bischoff contributed to this report.