The Ohio attorney general says a group that is working to legalize medical marijuana has failed to submit enough petition signatures in its initial effort toward putting the idea before voters.
Attorney General Mike DeWine on Wednesday rejected the initial petition for a November 2012 ballot issue on the proposed constitutional amendment. The signatures were needed to give voters a chance to decide on the Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment to the Ohio Constitution. Supporters wants to make it legal for doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients, and for those patients to legally possess it.
The proposal needed 1,000 signatures, but just 534 of the 2,134 turned in by supporters were deemed to be valid, according to a release to the media from DeWine’s office.
The initial signatures and approval of wording on the issue are required before the group can circulate additional petitions. They would then need about 385,000 valid signatures to get the measure on the ballot.
Hope is not lost since there is at least one other group currently trying to get a measure on the ballot as well as a bill currently in the Ohio legislature that could also establish a workable medical marijuana program.
