Ohio Group Submits Signatures to Put Legal Marijuana on November Ballot

A scene from the 2022 Hash Bash in Detroit Credit: Scene Archives

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted more than 222,000 signatures aiming to get the question of whether to legalize the possession and personal cultivation of cannabis for Ohioans over 21 on the November ballot.

“Our proposal is guided by best practices learned in the 20+ states that have already made the choice to regulate the sale and possession of marijuana,” said coalition spokesman Tom Haren. “At the same time, we also avoid pitfalls from some of those other states. We’ve seen what’s worked, we’ve seen what’s not worked, and that’s how we crafted our proposal.”

The secretary of state’s office now has until July 20 to validate the signatures. If the initiative needs more signatures, the coalition will have 10 days to gather enough.

If passed, which Haren expects it will, the initiative will establish a legal marijuana industry in Ohio, creating a Division of Cannabis Control in the Ohio Department of Commerce to regulate, license, investigate and penalize marijuana use.

Haren says the regulatory framework for recreational marijuana will resemble that of Ohio’s existing medical marijuana industry and make the legal recreational marijuana market a competitive alternative to the illegal market.

“We have a 10 percent tax at the point of sale, which is relatively low compared with taxing regimes in other states, so our adult use operators, we believe, will be able to effectively compete with the illicit market,” Haren said. “We want to make sure that we can provide a true alternative to the illicit market, a true alternative for consumers who are right now going to Michigan or Illinois or some other state where marijuana is already regulated.”

That 10 percent tax will generate between $275 and $375 million in revenue for the state every year, according to research from the Ohio State University.

“We want to make sure that we have an open market here in Ohio that is responsive to the laws of supply and demand,” said Haren.

The full text of the initiative is available on the coalition’s website.

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