Efforts to legalize marijuana in Ohio have never seen so much support — 87 percent of voters in favor of medical use and 51 percent in favor of legal recreational use, according to Quinnipiac University polling data — nor have there been so many avenues toward voter-sanctioned legalization. Although three’s a crowd, as they say.

Today, Ohioans to End Prohibition (OTEP) announced plans for a November 2016 ballot initiative to repeal marijuana prohibition statewide. The group’s goal is an “open, transparent, merit-based free market for cannabis in Ohio that emphasizes patients’ rights and public health.” Throughout the proposed Cannabis Control Amendment, the group emphasizes “intelligent regulation and vibrant competition.”

The foil to that amendment is ResponsibleOhio’s proposed November 2015 ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana production and limit the right to grow marijuana to “10 tightly regulated, heavily taxed growing locations.” The de facto monopoly suggested in that language has irked many proponents of legalization, from OTEP to the Ohio Rights Group, which first focused its efforts on ballots in 2013. The Ohio Rights Group seeks a legal market for medical/therapeutic cannabis production and use.

Last year, the Ohio Rights Group failed to gather enough signatures to land its work on Ohio ballots, leading casual observers back to the notion that who knows how long this will take. 

Nothing’s official yet, so we’ll keep you updated as to how this year’s crop of signature-gathering efforts goes. 

This article appears in Jan 7-13, 2015.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.

11 replies on “In Brief: Reviewing the Crowded Field of Ohio’s Marijuana Legalization Campaigns”

  2. ORG is washed up. ResponsibleOhio’s proposal is absolutely terrible.

    Count me in for OTEP.

  3. Irresponsible Ohio is doing well enough from casino profits (as 10 of the 12 people licensed to grow are probably going to be on the board,) let US handle our own stuff. A de facto monopoly would keep a black market and NOT free up police and courts. The Ohio House had better beat them to the punch or we’re the new Detroit

  5. I am 51 and in so much pain. I get injections more then most girls have period in a month. I take heavy drugs and would like to get off of the drugs that is killing my body and get on something that could help and not harm me. For some of you haters out there have no idea what pain is, so why comment on it. This could be a good thing for people like me. I always told my children how bad Marijuana was bUT now that I am in all this pain. I have a different out look on it.

  8. DON’T BE FOOLED!!!!

    Whether you support the use of medical cannabis or not, there is a high likelihood that it will become legal in the state of Ohio in the foreseeable future.

    Big money interests are very much aware of this fact and are currently developing an Amendment to the Ohio Constitution that will allow a few powerful and wealthy individuals or corporations to
    monopolize the cannabis industry in our state.

    This Amendment will likely appear on the November 2015 ballot for approval by the voters of the state of Ohio and will limit the number of growers authorized to cultivate marijuana in Ohio to only 10 entities. If passed, it will deny Ohio farmers and other entrepreneurs the ability to engage in a free and open enterprise in this emergent industry.

    Please don’t be fooled into voting for a Amendment because it contains language favorable to the use of recreational cannabis.

    PLEASE do your homework and support the Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment sponsored by the Ohio Rights Group.

    Their Amendment will ensure that new business prospects remain accessible to all Ohioans (including those who have left the state in order to pursue business opportunities in states where medical marijuana is already legal).

    It is important that we educate ourselves and others regarding the efforts of these special interest groups who want to limit the involvement in this growing industry. This Amendment can only reach the ballot with 301,000+ legitimate petition signatures.

    It will ensure that all responsible Ohioans ( individual and entrepreneur ) have the ability to partake in this growing industry.

    PLEASE JOIN THE CANNABIS CRUSADES IN OUR EFFORT TO HELP THE OHIO RIGHTS GROUP GET THE OHIO CANNABIS RIGHTS AMENDMENT ON THE BALLOT.

  9. I am 100 percent for legalization of Marijuana for recreational and especially for medicinal use. I also feel patients should have the right to grow for themselves as gardening can be therapeutic as well. I also feel anybody should have the right to make a living growing cannabis legally. I don’t feel that this right should be limited to some rrich skum bags who are greedy and want all the money for themselves and care nothing for the consumer. That’s like saying only ten people in ohio can grow tomatoes and sell them whole sale and if anybody wants to eat a tomatoes they have to buy their tomatoes. You can’t even grow a tomatoes for your self. I don’t know who these greedy, Nazi skum think they are but their plan is not just anti competitive , it’s anti american. nobody has the right to corner the market and force you to buy their product like that. I and everybody I know are for legalization but not like this. We will all vote against responsible ohio and I suggest everybody else does too. I know some people really need this , and God bless you all. But hasty decisions have bad results and there is a much better plan in the works for 2016. It will come , but it is our responsibility to do this right where everybody from the patient to the government benefits , not just a few greedy anti american jerks!

  10. I will not be voting for a monopoly. I am for legalization but not a constitutional monopoly

  11. We need Ohio to look at the state’s that have legalized marijuana for medical AND recreational use. These states have LOWER crime rates and HIGHER revenue rates. These states were smart enough to realize that this is a good way to help the sick AND pull the state out of debt. If all states legalized marijuana, our country can be out of debt within a year or two. Colorado has made over 90 MILLION dollars in revenue within one year of legalization.. Why isn’t the government seeing this?? Why are they still spending trillions of dollars on wars that are putting us more in debt?? It’s crazy. They need to start paying attention and taking the lead from the state’s that are GAINING REVENUE!!! it seems like a no brained to me.

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