Two measures on this year’s ballot come into direct conflict with each other: one legalizing pot and the other banning monopolies.
Ohio might become the fifth state to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use Tuesday, but that action might also lead to a lengthy legal battle in the state.
This year’s election includes two ballot issues that directly compete with each other.
Issue 3, sponsored by ResponsibleOhio, would legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use.
But some opponents of the measure, who say Issue 3 would essentially create a monopoly, are hoping that Issue 2, an anti-monopoly measure, will pass instead.
“If both pass, it will be in court for quite some time,” Ohio State Rep. Ryan Smith said.
Smith was one of the cosponsors of the House resolution that put Issue 2 on the ballot.
The bill would prevent any constitutional amendment setting up a monopoly, oligopoly or cartel.
The resolution was introduced by Smith and Ohio State Rep. Michael F. Curtin and adopted by the state legislature in June, but will not pass into law unless it receives a majority vote from Ohio voters.
Smith said although he is opposed to marijuana legalization, the decision to introduce the bill was driven by other concerns.
“We both felt strongly that we need to protect the Ohio Constitution from profiteers,” he said. “(The Constitution is) not there to grant special rights to wealthy individuals.”
But Faith Oltman, spokeswoman for ResponsibleOhio, said Issue 2 is an overextension of the state’s powers.
“We believe that voters will see that Issue 2 is an overstep and overreach by politicians to have more control than voters,” she said. “Lawmakers passed Issue 2 because they didn’t want marijuana legalization in Ohio.”
There are differing opinions as to what would happen if both bills pass.
The text of Issue 2 states that, if it passes, it would override any other bill on the ballot that year that sets up a monopoly, but Ohio Revised Code states that if two bills conflict with each other, the one with the most number of votes would take precedence.
Issue 2 also would come into effect sooner, since legislative ballot issues go into effect immediately, though petition ballot issues, like Issue 3, take 30 days to go into effect.
But Oltman said if that happens, ResponsibleOhio is prepared to take the issue to court.
“We’ve already been involved in several lawsuits with the secretary of state because of his actions and overreaching his statewide office position,” he said. “I think we’re willing to stand up for what people vote for and what people will approve of.”
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has been challenging the legality of Issue 3 for months.
“The section of the ResponsibleOhio proposal that creates a private marijuana monopoly directly conflicts with the General Assembly’s proposal, which seeks to prohibit the creation of such commercial monopolies,” he said in a June news release.
Issue 3 has also drawn criticism from local lawyer Don Wirtshafter, who resigned from the Ohio Rights Group, another marijuana advocacy group, last month due to its support of the measure.
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Wirtshafter said there is a small chance both bills could stand.
If the conflict does make its way to the Ohio Supreme Court, he said ResponsibleOhio might be forced to cut out all aspects of its bill that could be considered a “monopoly,” but that it could keep the rest intact.
“Looking at it through rose-colored glass, you could see that as a potential,” he said.
He also said that even if it doesn’t pass, he thinks state legislators will likely be working on a bill to legalize the drug in the coming year, due to the support garnered from ResponsibleOhio’s bill.
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