I received the following press release late yesterday out of Ohio:
(Columbus, OH): Patients, parents, veterans, advocates and members of the Ohio Rights Group gathered this afternoon at the Ohio Statehouse to present over 2,000 signatures in support of the Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. This submission is part of the process to place this proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution on the statewide ballot. By statute, Attorney General DeWine is charged with determining whether the measure’s summary is a fair and truthful statement of its full text, and must render his decision within ten days. Once certified, he forwards the measure to the Ohio Ballot Board, which will, within another 10 days, certify that the Amendment relates to only one issue. That determination will permit the ORG to commence a statewide campaign to collect the 385,000+ signatures of registered Ohio voters necessary for ballot placement.
“As a mother, I’m fighting for all Ohioans,” said Linda Pardee, a member of the Amendment’s Committee to Represent the Petitioners, whose son was severely injured in an automobile accident. “I want Ohio’s ill and injured to have the safest and healthiest treatments, and I’ve learned that when it comes to safety nothing else comes close to cannabis.”
The ballot language of the Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment first cites the inalienable rights that commence the long standing Bill of Rights in the Ohio Constitution to which all Ohioans are entitled. These rights include life, liberty, property and safety. The measure then sets forth seven rights to be accorded Ohio residents who will be eligible to use cannabis therapeutically as a result of a diagnosed debilitating medical condition. The amendment would also establish the right of eligible Ohio residents to produce and sell non-psychoactive Cannabis – hemp – for such industrial uses as paper, fuel, foods, building materials, clothing and more. In addition, the Amendment establishes an Ohio Commission of Cannabis Control to not only support, uphold and defend these rights, but to also regulate therapeutic cannabis in Ohio.
The Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment is sponsored by the Ohio Rights Group, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of Ohioans to make medical, therapeutic and industrial use of the Cannabis plant and supports the growing number of individuals, organizations and industries facilitating those uses.
