On Wednesday, state officials announced that the voter-driven proposal to legalize adult-use marijuana qualified for inclusion on the ballot this coming November.
Ohio could become the next state to legalize recreational marijuana sales if voters approve a newly certified ballot initiative this coming Election Day. According to multiple media outlets, last month, the Ohio-based advocacy group known as Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA) submitted 123,367 signatures for a petition to add a citizen-driven initiative to legalize cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, testing, and sales for residents over 21 to this November’s ballot.
Although the group came up short by a mere 679 valid signatures to get the measure added then, they were granted an additional ten days to acquire the necessary number and ultimately turned in roughly 6,500 more names.
As a result, on Wednesday, Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office informed the advocacy through a letter that of those additional 6,500 signatures, 4,405 were valid, bringing the overall total to 127,772, which means the initiative will indeed be on the ballot come November.
“We are grateful to the thousands of Ohioans who helped us get to this point and are excited to bring our proposal to regulate marijuana like alcohol before Ohio voters this coming Election Day,” CTRMLA spokesperson Tom Haren said.
"We are grateful to the thousands of Ohioans who helped us get to this point and are excited to bring our proposal to regulate marijuana like alcohol before Ohio voters this coming Election Day.”
- CTRMLA spokesperson Tom Haren
It has been quite a journey to arrive at this momentous achievement for the pro-legalization supporters in Ohio. The more substantial group of signatures turned in last month by the coalition represents the second batch collected by the group.
Last year the campaign submitted its first round of signatures, which triggered a four-month legislative review period for lawmakers at the State House to use to draft legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis potentially. At that time, they chose not to act, which enabled the coalition to gather the second round of petition signatures required to qualify for the ballot.
Initially, the group wanted to add the initiative to last year’s ballot. However, procedural technicalities prohibited that from happening. As a compromise, prompted by an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit filed by CTRMLA, the state agreed not to require the campaign to gather the first round of initial signatures again for 2023. Likewise, officials also stipulated to allow the coalition to resubmit the measure to the state legislature for the beginning of the 2023 session.
And there has been an effort by bipartisan lawmakers at the Ohio state legislature to craft legalization reform this year. This past May, they filed a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis. However, the measure hasn’t been able to advance out of the committee hearing stage successfully, setting the stage for voters to make the final decision this November.
The issue of cannabis legalization is a hot-button topic for many Ohio voters, and the ballot initiative is viewed by many political insiders as a sure bet for passage this fall. One of the main reasons for the optimism is the potential financial impact a legal market could provide to the state’s treasury.
A recent economic analysis by the Ohio State University found that the state could collect up to $403.6 million in annual tax revenue from recreational cannabis sales if voters approve the ballot measure.
“Though these projections are subject to various assumptions, the tax revenue experiences of other states support claims that Ohio is likely to generate hundreds of millions in tax revenues from a mature adult-use market,” researchers wrote.
"Though these projections are subject to various assumptions, the tax revenue experiences of other states support claims that Ohio is likely to generate hundreds of millions in tax revenues from a mature adult-use market.”
- Ohio State University Researchers
Another factor bolstering confidence in the initiative’s passage is the voice of the citizenry in the Buckeye State. According to a USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University poll published in July, 59% of Ohioans support legalizing the possession and sale of marijuana for adults over 21, with only 35% opposed.
The state of Ohio is a historically crucial barometer for how the rest of the country will side with a particular presidential candidate or controversial issue. Included on the same ballot as the cannabis legalization initiative is a similar one concerning the right for a woman to have an abortion, another powerful and polarizing political topic.
How Ohioans decide to handle the marijuana and abortion rights issues could provide a window into how the rest of the country will ultimately go on both items. Election Day is less than 90 days away, and it is already fast becoming one of the most pivotal “off-election years” in recent memory.
