Ohio Rejects Ballot Proposal to Legalize Medical and Recreational Marijuana

Ohio voters rejected a ballot proposal Tuesday to legalize both recreational and medical marijuana, according to the Associated Press. About 65 percent of voters opposed the measure.

The proposal was watched closely as a potential test case for the rest of the country, the article notes. The measure would have amended the state constitution. It would have created 10 exclusive growing sites, which opponents called a “marijuana monopoly.”

The Ohio proposal was the only marijuana legalization question on a statewide ballot on Tuesday.

The proposal, known as Issue 3, would have allowed adults 21 and older to use, buy or grow certain amounts of marijuana, while allowing others to use it medically. Recreational marijuana is now legal in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia. Medical marijuana is now legal in about half of states.

Ohio Governor John Kasich praised the outcome of the vote. “At a time when too many families are being torn apart by drug abuse, Ohioans said no to easy access to drugs and instead chose a path that helps strengthen our families and communities,” he said in a statement.

According to USA Today, Ohio voters passed a measure to write into the state constitution a provision that bans the establishment of a “monopoly, oligopoly or cartel.” The ballot issue, which the state legislature wrote to defeat the marijuana language, passed 52.6 percent to 47.4 percent.

The pro-legalization group ResponsibleOhio spent $12 million as of its most recent campaign filing and reported raising about the same amount.

Curt Steiner, Director of Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies, said, “Issue 3 was nothing more and nothing less than a business plan to seize control of the recreational marijuana market in Ohio. Issue 3 was designed and built primarily to garner massive and exclusive profits for a small group of self-selected wealthy investors.”