2023 Ohio Issue 2

The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol initiative, listed on the ballot as Issue 2, is a ballot initiative for legalization of cannabis in the U.S. state of Ohio that was passed by voters on November 7, 2023.

History
State law in Ohio allows citizens to bring initiatives before the state legislature, with signatures of at least 3 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election. These must have been obtained from at least 44 of the 88 counties in Ohio. From each of these 44 counties, there must be signatures equal to at least 1.5 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor in that county at the last gubernatorial election.

Upon meeting these requirements, a group can force the legislature to consider an initiative. Without action from the General Assembly or the Governor, by collecting more signature of a quantity again meeting the above-mentioned requirements, the group can force to send it to voters on the November ballot. In Ohio, a group called the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol brought the initiative to the Ohio Secretary of State to be a 2022 ballot initiative. It was approved on August 30, 2021, for signature gathering. Over 200,000 signatures were submitted to the state at the end of 2021.

A lawsuit over filing deadlines resulted in the Ohio Secretary of State and the state legislature agreeing the initiative's signatures collected in 2021 and 2022 may be applied toward a 2023 ballot deadline.

In July 2023, on an initial count of valid signatures, supporters came about 650 short. On August 3, more than ten times the remaining number required to validate the initiative for the November ballot were turned in to the secretary of state. On August 16, 2023, the Secretary of State confirmed that the initiative would appear as a referendum ballot on November 7, 2023.

The initiative was passed by voters on November 7, 2023.

Provisions
Adults age 21 and up may purchase, possess and consume marijuana. Home grow of up to six plants per person or 12 plants per residence is allowed. The Division of Cannabis Control is established within the Ohio Department of Commerce to regulate commerce. Cannabis testing laboratories and supply chain are to be regulated.

The initiative also specifies how tax revenues under the new law would be spent. Thirty-six percent (36%) would be designated for "social equity and jobs" programs, estimated to be as high as $150 million per year. Thirty-six percent (36%) would go to communities that have dispensaries. Twenty-five percent (25%) would go to education and addiction treatment programs, and 3% would be used for regulatory and administrative costs.

Sponsor
The sponsor of the initiative, Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, is an affiliate of Marijuana Policy Project.

Politics
Ohio passed medical cannabis (along with decriminalized cannabis) in 2016 under Ohio House Bill 523.

In early 2022, pro-cannabis advocates gathered signatures to send recreational legalization measure to the state legislature. In April, the Senate president publicly announced that he would not bring the measure up for a vote. Under Ohio law, advocates now have a second opportunity to gather more signatures, and if they gather enough, the measure will go on the ballot in November. “The recreational cannabis petition collected 136,000 verified signatures, enough to get considered by the General Assembly, but would require an additional 132,877 signatures to proceed to the ballot.”

The largest organized opposition comes from the Center for Christian Virtue, which believes legalized cannabis will produce negative impacts on neighborhoods and society's drug addiction problems. The main proponent behind the ballot initiative is the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA), which dismissed the Center for Christian Virtue's opposition as "Prohibition-style talking points from 20 years ago."

In October 2023, Republican Senate President Matt Huffman warned that state legislators may repeal key provisions of Issue 2 if it passed.

Reaction
On November 8, the day after polling, top Republican leaders in Ohio indicated the possibility of overturning the measures approved by the voters in the ballot, along with those of Issue 1 on abortion. Republicans who oppose the initiative are able to change the law and to repeal it due to holding majorities in both the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate. Ohio Senate leader Steve Huffman, a Republican, said that given the result, Ohio legislators "may consider amending the statute to clarify the questionable language regarding limits for THC and tax rates as well as other parts of the statute." While Issue 2 mandates that marijuana tax revenue should be used to regulate marijuana, support substance abuse services, assist industry business owners and fund local governments where recreational business owners exist, Ohio House leader Jason Stephens, also a Republican, called for the Ohio "legislature to lead on how best to allocate tax revenues", and proposed "county jail construction and funding law enforcement training".