Most Populous State Yet May Legalize Pot in November

[willie33]

By the way, the above recipe for canna butter cookies is only meant for use in the states where medical marijuana is legal.

Thanks

[IceWizard]

Thanks Willie... I may put those to very good use....

[dupree]

Thanks Willie for that graph/info. I agree with everyone here that MJ should be legal and regulated just like Colorado and Washington.  It has given those states an economical boost.  Those states seem to be handling this situation very well and I'm damn proud of them for having the common sense and the balls to go in the right direction.

[horsies]

I think eating/consuming cannabis should be part of everyone's diet. I know it got rid of my mothers skin cancer. Kept my father alive and sharp as a tac for 90 years. Given that we have an endocannabinoid system throughout our bodies, it only makes sense to consume it as medicine or even as a daily herbal supplement. It is getting much bigger in the Eastern US now. Legal industrial size delivery stores and illegal of course. People are going to get it no matter what. The industry is just waiting for all the old conservative politicians to die off. The science is there, only opinions are keeping MMJ a C1. And yes, Thanks willie great post!

[Charon]

i know nothing about this. did not even see this thread until horsies replied.

pure speculation on my part, but i hear that for those whom cannot eat a cookie cuz they are that ill, that one can add white chocolate to the butter/MMJ mix. It melts. And, then one lets it cool and pours it into those little plastic shapes. similar to an icecube shape.

the angel shape seems a good one to try. I hear one should keep them in the freezer.

but i have never done anything illegal in my life. what never? well, hardly ever. (its a vaudeville routine. the last two sentences. no, i am not that old to have seen it. me father had four daughters whom had to learn vaudeville routines for the weekly parties.)

But, again, surely i know nothing...

[esbayne]

An Ohio ballot measure makes some reformers squirm, but backers says its grower oligopoly is nothing to worry about.


By Steven Nelson Aug. 18, 2015
5:02 p.m. EDT

In less than three months, marijuana legalization supporters will see a purple state blaze or a Buckeye burnout.

Ohio residents will vote Nov. 3 on whether to
allow adult possession of marijuana and a
regulated market for the drug – and the
measure may well pass. The state contains about as many people as Colorado and Washington state combined, but the possibility of it becoming the fifth – and the first east of the Mississippi – to end local prohibition on pot has been greeted with ambivalence by some legalization supporters.

That’s because the ballot initiative amending the state constitution would create an oligopoly for investors, delineating 10 very specific landholdings controlled by investors or groups of investors as approved commercial grow sites.

Many reformers don’t like that. Earlier this year, the state's Libertarian and Green parties expressed unease, as did Cleveland-born celebrity Drew Carey.

Concerned national reform groups have sat on the sidelines. Last week, the state government confirmed the group backing the initiative, ResponsibleOhio, had submitted the required 305,591 valid petition signatures for ballot access.

The group said it spent $2.5 million on the effort. National attention now is picking up and
ResponsibleOhio believes reform supporters
and a majority of Ohioans will find it acceptable.

“In November all eyes will be on Ohio,”
ResponsibleOhio spokeswoman Faith Oltman says. “At the end of the day … this proposal is a lot better than marijuana prohibition and the war on drugs.”

People shouldn't worry about the oligopoly, she says, because up to 1,150 retailers are allowed to sell marijuana and there's no cap on product manufacturers under the initiative.

After four years, a commission appointed by the governor would be able to allow more grow locations if it determines the supply is not meeting demand. But Mason Tvert, the co-director of Colorado’s successful 2012 legalization initiative, says whether new commercial growers would be added remains a concern.

Tvert, now communications director of the
Marijuana Policy Project – which helped
spearhead legalization ballot measures
in Colorado and Alaska and plans to back many more campaigns in 2016 – won’t condemn the Ohio measure, however. “It just is what it is,” he says. “We support any
effort that will replace prohibition with a system
in which marijuana is regulated, but it’s up to
voters to determine if this is the system they
believe is best.”

---

If the initiative fails, Tvert anticipates having to
answer persistent reporter questions on
whether the legalization movement – which
national polls generally find is supported by a
majority of Americans – has lost steam.

He offered a pre-emptive answer: It wouldn’t mean much.

Californians spiked a legalization measure in
2010 before the Colorado and Washington
measures saw a breakthrough in 2012, he points out.

Colorado voters rejected one in 2006 before their pivot six years later, as did Oregon voters in 2012 before accepting a rewritten initiative in 2014.

“When you think about voter behavior, if you’re a voter and walk in there and see a question on whether marijuana should be made legal, you don’t think, ‘I do, but people in Ohio seemed to think that initiative was a bad idea,’” he says.

A Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this year shows the measure has a fighting chance, with 52 percent support for marijuana
legalization in Ohio. Still, the effort may see
increased opposition as a “no” campaign takes shape.

ResponsibleOhio is paying a Florida firm to
conduct polling, Oltman says, but has not publicly released results.

Oltman says the model for financing the Ohio
initiative may prove useful in other states where national groups or purely altruistic donors are unable to dedicate resources for paid canvassers, something that’s doomed grass-roots ballot drives in places like Oklahoma and Arizona.

“Even though some of the grass-roots marijuana legalization supporters want to see a more grass-roots effort, that’s simply not an ideal way and a sustainable way to get to the ballot in Ohio,” she says, citing the cost and
organizational burden of qualifying for the ballot.

Like other U.S. jurisdictions that allow marijuana use, the legal age in Ohio would be 21.

Individuals would need to have a state license to grow four plants at home and store up to 8
ounces.

The states that currently allow adult marijuana
use under local law are Alaska, Colorado,
Oregon and Washington.

The nation’s capital and the Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe in South Dakota also have passed laws allowing personal use.

Under federal law, almost all pot possession
remains illegal, but the Obama administration
has allowed state autonomy under prosecutorial discretion.

Polls have found greater support for states' rights to legalize marijuana than support for legalization itself.

Although a defeat would open a public debate
about the inevitability of marijuana legalization, a win in a Midwestern state that's often a
presidential battleground would lend undeniable momentum to the reform movement ahead of 2016, when national pro-legalization groups plan to support initiatives in Arizona, California, Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts.

Big Pharma has hundreds of lobbyist and a big wallet trying to stop this. The pros to this are so numerous. I would much rather take a combo THC/CDB then I would opiates. If the feds give it a go ahead then maybe more states will follow. It is my opinion that the people we are paying to repensent us are more worried about lining their pockets then doing what the people want. It can be treated like alchol. If you want to partake you can. Even if it is medical only it is no different then the pill mills that are making a ortunate forcing people to do things that can kill them and do every day. The things that are attorney general sessions saying is such nonsense. It would slow down the cartel and would have a lot of pluses. . I am open for any opinions about this. We are spending millions on Mueller trying to find out stuff about Trump and we have people that can eat. I am unemployed and my "Obhamacare" has went up to 600 a month. I am trying to find a good deal and there are a lot of jobs that are part time and pay little. I got turned dowwn during a urine test for calium even though I have a prescription and get about 15 a month. But that is another subject. Let congress go without pay after the get out of office, make them pay health and not vote them selves a pay  increase every year, Sorry to get off subject but it just sets me off.

Regards Eddie

[esbayne]

---

Good stuff Willie33

[MoJim]

Thanks Willie for the recipe and the list of benefits. I happen to fall into a few of them. With a family history of Alzheimers's and at age 59 my short term memory seems to be getting worse every day. I could chalk it up to age, but I suspect early onset of Alzheimer's. Need to discuss with my Doc during my next appt. in 3 weeks.
MoJim

[Roses]

Hello MoJim. It's too bad your family has a history of Alzheimer's. I can understand you being concerned because your short term memory isn't good. I hope your visit with the doctor goes well. I just wanted to chime in & let you know that I'm 61 & have noticed my short term memory is real bad this year. I cannot remember something that was a thought 5 min. ago. It truly is very noticeable & family have mentioned it. So, maybe it's something that comes with age. I hope for your sake that's all it is. Best wishes.

Dear willie, thanks for the info. I enjoyed reading it & I'm going to try that recipe.