Yost, who bears no legislative duties in the Statehouse, is urging Ohio voters to keep in mind the long-term consequences of all plans.
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The group turned in more than 695,000 signatures in June, but not enough of them were valid.
After falling short to acquire the needed 305,591 valid signatures, Husted granted ResponsibleOhio a 10-day extension last month. RO had to come up with almost 30,000 more signatures to make it to the November elections. The proposed amendment also would write the specific parcel numbers of 10 growing facilities, to be operated by those financing the ballot campaign, into the state constitution. And the drug could be used recreationally and/or medically. “Legalizing marijuana use in this way would damage the perception of our state’s business climate”.
“We clearly have crossed the threshold, and are confident we have the signatures necessary to qualify this week, ” said Ian James, executive director at Responsible Ohio. “We encourage DREAM to reevaluate their stance and get on board with marijuana reform, as other states’ chambers have done”.
The first would all but prohibit the writing of monopolies into the state constitution, a question at least partly designed to thwart the marijuana amendment’s proposed hold on the wholesale pot cultivation business should voters pass that question. But the chamber announced the results of a survey of 500 local employers which found that 82 percent oppose legalization of recreational marijuana, and 68 percent oppose the ResponsibleOhio constitutional amendment. But it was a 50-50 spilt on whether employers would support legalizing medical marijuana. A report by the Marijuana Policies of Ohio Task Force claims marijuana legalization would be a billion dollar industry and create 35,000 jobs in the state.
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The coalition plans to address its concerns in public forums and social media campaigns, in the hopes of driving residents to the polls to vote no to ResponsibleOhio’s amendment.
