Issue 2: An Act to Control and Regulate Adult Use Cannabis (11/7/2023)

Ballot Icon Ballot Measure

PASSED

Result Icon Result

LIBERAL

BALLOT LANGUAGE

Issue 2 To Commercialize, Regulate, Legalize, and Tax the Adult Use of Cannabis Proposed Law Proposed by Initiative Petition To enact Chapter 3780 of the Ohio Revised Code A majority yes vote is necessary for the law to pass. To enact Chapter 3780 of the Ohio Revised Code, which would: • Define adult use cannabis to mean marijuana as defined in Section 3719.01 of the Revised Code and establish the Division of Cannabis Control (the “Division”) within the Department of Commerce; • Authorize the Division to regulate, investigate, and penalize adult use cannabis operators, adult use testing laboratories, and individuals required to be licensed; • Legalize and regulate the cultivation, processing, sale, purchase, possession, home grow, and use of cannabis by adults at least twenty-one years of age; • Create additional protections for individuals who engage in permitted adult use cannabis conduct; • Establish the cannabis social equity and jobs program and require the Department of Development to certify program applicants based on social and economic disadvantage; • Define “social disadvantage” to include membership in a racial or ethnic minority group, disability status, gender, or long-term residence in an area of high unemployment; • Shield certain confidential information from disclosure to the public, including but not limited to any information reported to or collected by the Division that identifies or would tend to identify any adult use cannabis consumer and prohibit the Department of Development from releasing certain application information as public records; • Require the Division to provide preferential treatment to applicants who have qualified for the cannabis social equity and jobs program based on social disadvantage when issuing level III adult use cannabis cultivator licenses and dispensary licenses; • Prohibit certain local government entities from limiting specific research, levying a tax, or charge on adult use operations, their owner, or their property not generally charged on other business, and prohibit certain local government entities from prohibiting or limiting adult use cannabis home grow or prohibiting or restricting an activity authorized by the proposed law; • Authorize a landlord or an employer to prohibit the adult use of cannabis in certain circumstances, and prohibit the operation of a motor vehicle while using or under the influence of adult use cannabis and from using any other combustible adult use cannabis while a passenger in a motor vehicle; • Limit criminal liability for certain financial institutions that provide financial services to any lawful adult use cannabis operator or testing laboratory licensed under the proposed law; • Require the Division to enter into an agreement with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to create a program for cannabis addiction services; • Provide for the creation of five funds in the state treasury: the adult use tax fund; the cannabis social equity and jobs fund; the host community cannabis fund; the substance abuse and addiction fund; and the division of cannabis control and tax commissioner fund; and • Provide for taxation of 10 percent on the sale of adult use cannabis by dispensaries in addition to usual sales taxes and require that all monies collected from the 10 percent tax levied to be deposited into the adult use tax fund and quarterly distributed as follows: 36 percent to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund; 36 percent to the host community cannabis facilities fund; 25 percent to the substance abuse and addiction fund; and three percent to the division of cannabis control and tax commission fund. If passed, the law will become effective 30 days after the election.

WHAT IT MEANS

• Define adult use cannabis to mean marijuana as defined in Section 3719.01 of the Revised Code and establish the Division of Cannabis Control (the “Division”) within the Department of Commerce; • Authorize the Division to regulate, investigate, and penalize adult use cannabis operators, adult use testing laboratories, and individuals required to be licensed; • Legalize and regulate the cultivation, processing, sale, purchase, possession, home grow, and use of cannabis by adults at least twenty-one years of age; • Create additional protections for individuals who engage in permitted adult use cannabis conduct; • Establish the cannabis social equity and jobs program and require the Department of Development to certify program applicants based on social and economic disadvantage; • Define “social disadvantage” to include membership in a racial or ethnic minority group, disability status, gender, or long-term residence in an area of high unemployment; • Shield certain confidential information from disclosure to the public, including but not limited to any information reported to or collected by the Division that identifies or would tend to identify any adult use cannabis consumer and prohibit the Department of Development from releasing certain application information as public records; • Require the Division to provide preferential treatment to applicants who have qualified for the cannabis social equity and jobs program based on social disadvantage when issuing level III adult use cannabis cultivator licenses and dispensary licenses; • Prohibit certain local government entities from limiting specific research, levying a tax, or charge on adult use operations, their owner, or their property not generally charged on other business, and prohibit certain local government entities from prohibiting or limiting adult use cannabis home grow or prohibiting or restricting an activity authorized by the proposed law; • Authorize a landlord or an employer to prohibit the adult use of cannabis in certain circumstances, and prohibit the operation of a motor vehicle while using or under the influence of adult use cannabis and from using any other combustible adult use cannabis while a passenger in a motor vehicle; • Limit criminal liability for certain financial institutions that provide financial services to any lawful adult use cannabis operator or testing laboratory licensed under the proposed law; • Require the Division to enter into an agreement with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to create a program for cannabis addiction services; • Provide for the creation of five funds in the state treasury: the adult use tax fund; the cannabis social equity and jobs fund; the host community cannabis fund; the substance abuse and addiction fund; and the division of cannabis control and tax commissioner fund; and • Provide for taxation of 10 percent on the sale of adult use cannabis by dispensaries in addition to usual sales taxes and require that all monies collected from the 10 percent tax levied to be deposited into the adult use tax fund and quarterly distributed as follows: 36 percent to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund; 36 percent to the host community cannabis facilities fund; 25 percent to the substance abuse and addiction fund; and three percent to the division of cannabis control and tax commission fund. If passed, the law will become effective 30 days after the election. A "YES" vote represents a Liberal position. A "NO" vote represents a Conservative position.

ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST

Yes

  • Social Equity and Jobs Programs (36%) – potential to generate an estimated $150 million or more annually for social equity and jobs programs in Ohio, making this one of the most robust social equity provisions of any cannabis law in the country
  • Funding for Dispensary Host Communities (36%) – potential to generate $150 million or more annually for the communities who have adult-use cannabis dispensaries, making this one of the largest contributions to communities in Ohio history
  • Addiction Treatment and Education (25%) – potential to generate $104 million or more annually to research and treat substance abuse in Ohio, one of the leading causes of deaths in Ohio
  • Regulatory and Administrative Costs (3%) – a small portion would go to the Division of Cannabis Control to fund the regulatory and administrative costs of overseeing the adult use cannabis industry in Ohio

Highlights from "About" the measure, accessed September 5, 2023, https://justlikealcohol.com/about/ .

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  • “We’re really at risk of Ohio falling behind. I’d argue Ohio has already fallen behind our neighboring states, and, frankly, where the public is on this issue. It’s not a political issue. The public is just there. It’s time for us to move forward.”  Rep. Casey Weinstein

Kyle Jaeger, "Bipartisan Ohio Lawmakers File New Marijuana Legalization Bill As Activists Collect Signatures To Put Issue On November Ballot," Marijuana Moment, May 24, 2023.

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  • " As an Ohioan who has experienced the lasting harms of a cannabis possession arrest and witnessed first-hand how prohibition is unequally and unfairly enforced in the Buckeye State, this campaign is personal to me."  

Morgan Fox, NORML Political Director, "Major Marijuana Legalization Vote this November," August 21, 2023, https://norml.org/blog/2023/08/21/major-marijuana-legalization-vote-this-november/.

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No

  • "Very few people, literally maybe as many as we can count on our hand, are in prison for marijuana possession." - 17:05
  • "You can have criminal justice reform without legalizing marijuana." - 17:38
  • promises of marijuana legalization have not held up - 17:48-19:58
  • Altria (formerly Philip Morris) donated $2 billion to marijuana - 23:35
  • comparison between strength and effects of old and new marijuana - 24:26
  • why cartels and dealers won't go away if marijuana is legalized - 31:02
  • moonshine and marijuana cost and production comparison - 32:10
  • effects on business owners - 33:56
  • targeting youth - 37:32

Niforatos, Luke, Inside the Fight Against Legalized Marijuana, interview by David Mahan and Mike Andrews, The Narrative Podcast, July 14, 2023.

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  • "Expanding access to this addictive drug brings even more risks to Ohioans, especially for employers who prioritize a safe workplace but already struggle to find workers who can pass a drug test,” she argued. “Is bringing new risks and costs to employers really worth it, just so some people can use marijuana whenever they want?”  Angela Phillips, Steering Committee Member, Protect Ohio Workers and Families

Nick Evans, "Yet Another Group ‘Protecting’ Ohioans Springs up to Oppose Recreational Marijuana Measure," Ohio Capital Journal, August 18, 2023.

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Marijuana Impacts Driving Ability:

  • Research shows that marijuana can impair drivers in a variety of ways. It can affect psychomotor functions such as attention, reaction time and coordination, but generally it appears to affect automated or routine driving more than tasks requiring conscious effort.
  • Further, numerous laboratory-based studies have demonstrated that marijuana use impairs many aspects of cognitive and physical function that are necessary for safe driving.
  • Marijuana can decrease car handling, can impair performance and attention while increasing reaction times, following distance and lane deviation.
  • Mixing alcohol and marijuana may produce effects greater than either drug on its own.

Cannabis & Driving, accessed September 5, 2023, https://exchange.aaa.com/safety/substance-impaired-driving/cannabis-driving/.

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FINANCIAL BACKING

The following information provides insight into the money being spent to pass or defeat the ballot measure.

Yes

Committees formed to SUPPORT  Ohio Issue 2.

COALITION TO REGULATE MARIJUANA LIKE ALCOHOL

Selected Contributions TO Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol include:

  • Marijuana Policy Project
  • Larry Pegram
  • Cresco Labs Ohio, LLC.
  • Jared Maloof
  • Curaleaf
  • Standard Wellness Company, LLC - Jared Maloof/Kevin Murphy/Brad Maloof
  • Rivera Creek, LLC - Daniel Kessler/Brian Kessler
  • Battle Green Holdings, LLC - Chad Wise
  • The Firelands Company, LLC - Jeff McCourt
  • ATCPC OF Ohio, LLC - Adam Thomarios
  • Wright - Patt Credit Union
  • Buckeye Relief, LLC - Andrew Rayburn
  • Harvest Grows LLC - Ariane Kirkpatrick
  • Jason Vedadi
  • William Williams

No

Committees formed to OPPOSE  Ohio Issue 2.

PROTECT OHIO WORKERS AND FAMILIES

Selected Contributions TO Protect Ohio Workers and Families include:

  • Angela Phillips
  • Ohio Manufacturers Association
  • American Jobs and Growth Fund
  • 55 Green Meadows
  • George Lang
  • Slick Automated Solutions, Inc.




OTHER INFORMATION

Yes

The following points take neither a Yes or No position on the issue but are excerpts from the legal analysis.

  • "Issue 2 would permit adults 21 years and older to use, possess, and transport marijuana that was legally obtained in the State. An adult consumer would be permitted to transfer marijuana to another adult consumer, as long as the transfer is without compensation and is not advertised or promoted to the public."
  • "Under Issue 2, an employer would be able to create hiring and employment policies related to marijuana use. An employer could terminate an employee who uses or possesses marijuana and could refuse to hire an individual who uses or possesses marijuana. In addition, an employer can prohibit an employee from using marijuana, based on O.R.C. 3780.35, which is part of Issue 2."
  • "Under Issue 2, a landlord could prohibit a tenant from growing or smoking marijuana, as long as the prohibition is included in the lease agreement."
  • "Under Issue 2, local governments could not prevent an existing medical marijuana cultivator or processor from producing marijuana. However, a local government could prohibit an adult use dispensary from selling marijuana."   

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Legal Analysis of State Issue 2, October 5, 2023.

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  • "...seed to sale inventory tracking, so as soon as a plant is planted at a cultivation facility, it's tagged with an RFID tag where regulators can watch it on live-fed surveillance cameras all throughout its entire production chain."
  • "The best way to keep marijuana out of the hands of kids is through a regulated program with consistence and very heavy oversight by the regulator."
    Thomas Haren, Attorney, Cannabis Law Group

Spectrum News Forum on Ohio Issue 2, October 10, 2023, 29:13 and 32:25.

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No

The following points take neither a Yes or No position on the issue but are excerpts from the legal analysis.

  • "Issue 2 would create a new Revised Code Chapter 3780, which would consist of 38 new sections of the Revised Code. Issue 2 would also require certain state agencies to create new regulations to implement the various new laws."
  • "Issue 2 would set an initial limit on the number of licensed adult use operators in Ohio and would limit how much space each facility could use to grow marijuana. In deciding which applicants will receive licenses, the Division would be required to give a preference to applicants who are certified by the “cannabis social equity and jobs program.” 
  • "Under the laws created by Issue 2, the Division would oversee all licensed adult use operators. The Division would be required to establish numerous standards, including product labeling, product tracking, product testing, advertising, facility security, and inventory control. Issue 2 would specify what types of marijuana products could be sold and would limit the total tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of all marijuana products. Because Issue 2 creates limitations on certain aspects of marijuana, the proposal is not expected to eliminate the black market for marijuana products."
  • "Issue 2 does not address the interplay between the proposed state law and existing federal laws. Currently, under federal law, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug with a high potential for abuse and little to no medical benefit. Issue 2 would not change that classification and cannot override federal law. If Issue 2 passes, the possession and distribution of marijuana would still be prohibited by federal law. The federal government could still choose to criminally prosecute individuals who violate federal marijuana laws, even if the individual was abiding by Ohio marijuana laws."

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Legal Analysis of State Issue 2, October 5, 2023.     

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  • "We've seen in other states that what he is saying is just not true.  And another thing, they do not regulate from seed to sale.  It's impossible to do.  A lot of these other states only three percent of these things have actually been done.  So, I mean, it sounds good, but it doesn't really happen, and there's been a lot of people harmed by this." 
    Corrinne LaMarca, Parents Opposed to Pot
  • "Marijuana causes addiction and 4 out of 10 people go on to use a more potent drug." "Ohio leads the nation in drug overdoses on a per capita basis.  This does not make any sense to legitimize, legalize and make more available another addictive drug."
    Ohio State Senator Mark Romanchuck

Spectrum News Forum on Ohio Issue 2, October 12, 2023, 32:44 and 44:30.

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