Private homeowners can possess four adult plants – which must be purchased from one of the 10 grow sites – and may possess up to eight ounces of marijuana product at a time.
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That’s because Issue 3, as the measure is called, would grant the landowners or operators of 10 predetermined sites the exclusive right to grow commercial marijuana. Across the nation, the legal pot movement is moving away from entrepreneurial-minded small businesses that advocated for marijuana legalization in Colorado or Washington and toward rich investors hoping to flip seed money into profit.
A University of Akron poll released on October 20 showed voters were evenly divided, with 46 percent for, a similar proportion against and 8 percent undecided.
“We’re not saying that people who own specific property should be given these licenses”, said Welday, contrasting his group’s medical proposal with the Ohio legalization model.
Unlike other state marijuana legalization initiatives that have come before, Ohio’s ballot measure has divided marijuana legalization supporters.
Pam Braddock, 60, of Mansfield, said she voted yes to legalizing marijuana and against Issue 2.
Detractors fear the shift could disintegrate into another “Big Tobacco”, Politico Magazine points out, particularly because the plan limits marijuana growers to 10 farms, effectively creating a weed oligarchy. There will also be 1,100 designated store locations for the average consumer, stocked with marijuana from these farms.
The possibility of legal marijuana in Ohio has been the source of endless conversation and debate across the Buckeye State.
The Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization advocacy group, told the Daily Caller News Foundation they were neutral officially neutral on Issue 3 but generally supported regulating marijuana like alcohol. A similar measure failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in 2014. The state tax agency estimates the measure would generate between $133 million and $293 million in revenue for the state. While legalizing pot already is divisive, what makes “Issue 3” even more controversial is that it would create an oligopoly for weed producers and distributors. Neither side has a clear advantage and no-one knows what voters will decide on Tuesday.
This could all go up in smoke if Ohioans support a competing issue instead, that would ban Nick Lachey and other pre-chosen farmers as being a monopoly worth billions. The retired school principal said he thinks marijuana should be legalized in the US, but opposes the idea of monopolies having control of the business.
“Ultimately it is going to be all about the turnout”, said James.
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Ohio’s Secretary of State says that regardless of how much each measure won by, since Issue 2 would take effect first, it would trump Issue 3. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Issue 2 “would prohibit a monopoly, oligopoly or cartel from getting on the statewide ballot without having to pass two public votes at the same election”.
