Ohio Cannabis Advocates Say They Have Enough Signatures to Put the Issue to Voters

Ohio advocates seeking to put a cannabis legalization question to voters say they have collected enough signatures to put the issue on ballots, WTVG reports. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol said they have collected more than 220,000 signatures – almost 100,000 more than needed.

“The statute would implement best practices learned from the 20+ states that have already done so, including by building off of the existing medical marijuana regulatory framework and imposing a 10% tax on adult use sales.” — The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in a statement via WTVG

Tom Haren, an attorney with the coalition, told WOSU that the organization expects the proposal will pass “with a mandate from Ohio voters that we want to follow in the footsteps of the other half of the United States that have legalized and regulated marijuana since 2013.”

If passed, the ballot question would legalize the cultivation, processing, sale, purchase, possession, home grow, and use of cannabis for adults 21 or older, and impose a 10% tax on sales. Adults would be allowed to grow six plants per person, up to 12 per household.

Ohio voters in 2015 rejected a cannabis legalization bill. In that attempt, cannabis advocates became opponents of the proposal due to monopoly concerns.