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Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative (2019)
| Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 2019 | |
| Topic Marijuana | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative was not on the ballot in Ohio as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 5, 2019.
The measure would have legalized the use, possession, and sale of marijuana for persons age 21 or older in Ohio. The measure would have authorized the Ohio General Assembly to enact a tax on retail sales of marijuana.[1]
Proponents of the measure filed the initiative as the Marijuana Rights and Regulations Amendment.[1]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article I, Ohio Constitution
The measure would have added a Section 24 to Article I of the Ohio Constitution.[1]
Full text
The full text of the initiative is available here.
Background
Legalization initiatives in the U.S.
California Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana, appeared on the ballot in 2010. It was defeated, with 53.5 percent of voters casting "no" votes.[2] U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder came out against Proposition 19, saying President Obama's (D) administration would "vigorously enforce the (Controlled Substances Act) against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law." Support for the proposition dropped following Holder's statement.[3] Mason Tvert, spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the 2010 initiative was defeated because "it was done during a midterm election." He continued, "If it had been done in a presidential election, things might have turned out very differently. We find that the more people who vote, the more who favor ending marijuana prohibition."[4]
In 2012, legalized recreational marijuana advocates saw their first statewide victories in Colorado and Washington. Two years later, voters in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. approved marijuana legalization, and President Obama revised his position on recreational marijuana, stating, "We've got bigger fish to fry. It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal."[5]
In 2015, voters in Ohio defeated Issue 3, which was designed to legalize the sale and use of marijuana and authorize 10 facilities with exclusive commercial rights to grow marijuana.[6]
Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada all had marijuana legalization initiatives on their 2016 general election ballots. The initiatives passed in all of the states but Arizona, where voters rejected the measure 51 to 49 percent.[7]
As of 2018, one state—Vermont—had legalized the recreational use of marijuana through the legislative process and governor's signature. On May 11, 2017, the Vermont State Legislature became the first in the nation to pass a bill to legalize marijuana.[8] However, Gov. Phil Scott (R) vetoed the legislation.[9][10] The Vermont State Legislature approved a second bill to legalize marijuana, and Gov. Scott signed the bill into law on January 22, 2018.[11]
There were 14 states, including Michigan, with the initiative process that had not featured initiatives designed to legalize the recreational use of marijuana on their ballots, as of 2018. There were a total of 16 remaining states, including Arizona and Ohio, where citizens could petition for initiatives to legalize marijuana.
The following map depicts the legal status of recreational marijuana in different states:
Path to the ballot
In Ohio, the number of signatures required to get an initiated constitutional amendment placed on the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Ohio also requires initiative sponsors to submit 1,000 signatures with the initial petition application. Ohio has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures be gathered from at least 44 of Ohio's 88 counties. Petitioners must gather signatures equal to a minimum of half the total required percentage of the gubernatorial vote in each of the 44 counties. Petitions are allowed to circulate for an indefinite period of time. Signatures are due 125 days prior to the general election that proponents want the initiative on.
The initiative was filed on January 30, 2018, along with more than 2,002 initial signatures, with the attorney general.[1] On June 19, 2019, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the initiative would not appear on the ballot in 2019 or 2020 after the campaigned terminated its committee on April 18, 2019. Jonathan Varner, former spokesperson for the campaign, said, "Ohio Families for Change, which is a former client of mine, has no plans on advancing their ballot language in either 2019 or 2020."[12]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ohio Attorney General, "Initiative Petition," April 9, 2018
- ↑ LA Weekly, "What Killed Prop. 19?" November 4, 2010
- ↑ Washington Post, "How Democrats derailed marijuana legalization in California," November 10, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Business Journal, "Tweaked legal pot initiative to reach 2016 ballot," September 29, 2014
- ↑ Washington Post, "Obama: I’ve got ‘bigger fish to fry’ than pot smokers," December 14, 2014
- ↑ CNN, "Ohio voters reject legal marijuana," November 4, 2015
- ↑ Time, "These States Just Legalized Marijuana," November 8, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Times, "Vermont becomes first state to pass legal marijuana bill with legislature," May 11, 2017
- ↑ Rolling Stone, "Vermont Governor Vetoes Marijuana Bill," May 24, 2017
- ↑ Burlington Free Press, "Gov. Scott on marijuana: 'I have to do what I think is right'," May 17, 2017
- ↑ Burlington Free Press, "Vermont's legal marijuana law: What you should know," January 23, 2018
- ↑ The Cincinnati Enquirer, "No Ohio marijuana legalization measure on the 2019 ballot," June 19, 2019
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