There are numerous states planning a 2016 marijuana legalization effort. There are also a few states targeting a 2015 effort via their State Legislatures. But there is one state that has it’s sights set on an initiative during the 2015 Election, and it’s not a state that most expected to see put forth such an effort. The State of Ohio is seeing marijuana activists organize for a 2015 effort, per Cleveland.Com:
A campaign to legalize the medical and recreational use of marijuana in Ohio is quietly taking shape and includes plans to place an amendment to the Ohio Constitution before voters in November 2015, the Northeast Ohio Media Group has learned.
The campaign plans to push an amendment, that if approved by voters, would guarantee a ten or so property owners the right to grow marijuana, according to sources who spoke on the condition they not be named.
By embedding in the constitution where marijuana can be produced – and essentially who can profit from its production – organizers are using an approach similar to the one gambling interests used in their 2009 successful campaign to allow casino-style gaming. That amendment, known on the ballot as Issue 3, limited gaming to just four locations in Ohio.
There are actually two separate campaigns pursuing reform. Ohio Rights Group is pursuing the medical marijuana effort, and Responsible Ohio is leading the recreational effort. Both efforts must gather nearly 400,000 valid signatures to put either issue before Ohio voters, which is no small task in such a short time frame. But, with that being said, I hope they both succeed.
