ResponsibleOhio has received well over the required number of signatures for its marijuana legalization proposal before turning it in to the Attorney General next month.
Less than a month away from its deadline, ResponsibleOhio collected more than 550,000 signatures in support of its petition to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational use statewide, according to a news release.
Petitions for the November 2015 ballot are due to Attorney General Mike Dewine on July 1. The group has exceeded the mandated 305,591 signatures needed to appear on the ballot.
“We’re proud to have the support of so many Ohioans in our effort to legalize medical marijuana for the chronically ill and for personal use by Ohioans 21 years and older,” ResponsibleOhio’s Executive Director Ian James said in the release.
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James grew up in Athens and graduated from Ohio University. He now lives in Columbus.
If passed, the proposal would authorize marijuana to be produced at ten growing facilities throughout the state of Ohio.
The marijuana would then go to one of five testing facilities, one of which will be in Athens, before being shipped off to retailers.
The measure would also allow individuals to apply for a home-growing permit, which would allow them to grow up to four plants.
Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl has expressed skepticism over the proposal, according to previous Post reports, citing the fact that the proposal only allows marijuana to be grown and distributed by ten facilities.
“It sounds too convoluted to me, with businesses as the big winners,” he said.
Lydia Bolander, a spokesperson for ResponsibleOhio, said that was a mischaracterization of the proposal.
“There are going to be thousands of opportunities for Ohioans who want to get involved in the marijuana industry,” she said, adding that entrepreneurs in the state can open up dispensaries or work for testing facilities.
ResponsibleOhio is not the only group circulating marijuana legalization petitions.
The Ohio Rights Group, which formed in 2013, is also trying to pass its Ohio Rights Cannabis Amendment, although the group is shooting for the 2016 ballot.
That amendment also has an Athens connection; Don Wirtshafter, an Athens-based lawyer, serves on the organization’s general counsel.
Nick Neely, the group’s vice president, said the amendment has garnered close to 150,000 signatures and has been approved by the Ohio Ballot Board.
The amendment would legalize marijuana and hemp for medicinal and industrial use, but not for recreational use. The plants could be grown by any number of organizations, rather than being limited to ten facilities.
“(Our plan is) more for people who need to use this,” Neely said. “That's really our main mission and goal, … whereas I would say with ResponsibleOhio, that was driven primarily by economic interests.”
Neely said he does not have strong confidence in ResponsibleOhio being successful in the November election.
“I think they have a lot of opposition that they weren't accounting for,” he said. “I'm not too worried about them. If they pass, they pass. I've just gotta worry (about our petition).”
But Bolander said she doesn’t think the opposition to the ResponsibleOhio amendment will have much effect on voters in November.
She cited a recent Quinnipiac University poll which showed that 84 percent of Ohio voters favored legalized medical marijuana, and 52 percent favored legalizing the drug for recreational use.
Internal polls based on the ResponsibleOhio ballot language have generated similar results, she said.
“Any campaign faces arguments against them,” she said. “I think that voters will be focused on all of the positive things marijuana legalization will provide for Ohio.”
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