Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
By this summer voters will know whether Ohio will be the next state asked to give legal weed a try.
At least two pro-pot groups - ResponsibleOhio and Better for Ohio - are racing to hundreds of thousands of signatures needed by July 1 to place amendments on the November ballot. The proposals are separate - but similar - and approval of either plan would make Ohio the first state to legalize medical and recreational marijuana at the same time.
As the competing campaigns take shape, experts say the race is unlike any the country has seen in the history of the pro-pot movement.
"When I talk to people, I tell them, 'You need to start looking at Ohio, because Ohio is about to show the country — for good or bad — something completely new in marijuana reform law,'" said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
Legalizing pot in Ohio could have far reaching implications for marijuana reform efforts, said Robert Mikos, a professor of Law at Vanderbuilt University.
"Ohio is a big state that's always important in presidential races, and if the state were to legalize this year, it would put more pressure the candidates to either support or at least move into a position of tolerating it," Mikos said. "It also could have major ramifications for the Midwest and East Coast states that might tip them to consider (legalization)."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: What's next in the race to legalize pot in Ohio? - Story
Author: Lisa Bernard-Kuhn, Emily Maxwell
Contact: Contact Info, Phone Numbers, Address, WCPO-TV, 9 On Your Side | WCPO.com
Photo Credit: Emily Maxwell
Website: Cincinnati News, Weather, Traffic, Sports | WCPO.com | 9 On Your Side | WCPO-TV
At least two pro-pot groups - ResponsibleOhio and Better for Ohio - are racing to hundreds of thousands of signatures needed by July 1 to place amendments on the November ballot. The proposals are separate - but similar - and approval of either plan would make Ohio the first state to legalize medical and recreational marijuana at the same time.
As the competing campaigns take shape, experts say the race is unlike any the country has seen in the history of the pro-pot movement.
"When I talk to people, I tell them, 'You need to start looking at Ohio, because Ohio is about to show the country — for good or bad — something completely new in marijuana reform law,'" said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
Legalizing pot in Ohio could have far reaching implications for marijuana reform efforts, said Robert Mikos, a professor of Law at Vanderbuilt University.
"Ohio is a big state that's always important in presidential races, and if the state were to legalize this year, it would put more pressure the candidates to either support or at least move into a position of tolerating it," Mikos said. "It also could have major ramifications for the Midwest and East Coast states that might tip them to consider (legalization)."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: What's next in the race to legalize pot in Ohio? - Story
Author: Lisa Bernard-Kuhn, Emily Maxwell
Contact: Contact Info, Phone Numbers, Address, WCPO-TV, 9 On Your Side | WCPO.com
Photo Credit: Emily Maxwell
Website: Cincinnati News, Weather, Traffic, Sports | WCPO.com | 9 On Your Side | WCPO-TV
