08-24-2015, 05:39 PM
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,â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.
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,â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.
