COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the second time, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has submitted more signatures in an attempt to send the recreational marijuana measure to the ballot for the November election.
The coalition had until Aug. 4 to get 679 additional signatures after it fell short on valid submissions to make the fall statewide ballot.
A statement from the group said, “Today our Coalition submitted 6,545 signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State, well above the 679 required to get on the ballot this November. I cannot express our thanks enough to everyone who came out to support this effort.”
Now, the county board of elections offices will have eight days to validate the signatures before returning them to Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office to be certified.
Tom Haren, the spokesperson for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol said there is excitement across the state.
“We modeled our proposal off of programs throughout the country so that we could implement best practices from those states, but at the same time building off of an existing regulatory framework that we have here in the Buckeye State. So I think people are excited to take this next step. These programs work throughout the country. And I think Ohioans recognize that it's, it's time to take this step for Ohio,” he said.
If the initiative makes the November ballot, a simple majority vote is required for it to pass.
The ballot measure proposes allowing adults 21 and over to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and to grow plants at home. A 10% tax would support administrative costs, addiction treatment, municipalities with dispensaries and social equity and jobs programs.
If the issue passes, Ohio would become the 24th state to legalize cannabis for adult use. The outcome of a special election Aug. 8 on whether to raise the bar for passing future constitutional amendments wouldn’t impact the marijuana question, since it was advanced through the citizen initiated statute process.
LaRose first submitted petitions to the Ohio General Assembly on behalf of the coalition in January 2022, triggering a four-month countdown for lawmakers to act. Republican legislative leaders didn't, and lawmakers asserted that the group's petitions had arrived too late for 2022 ballots.
A lawsuit and settlement ensued under which the group agreed to wait until this year.
Ohio's Legislature legalized medical marijuana in 2016, and the state's first dispensaries opened in 2019. Ohio would become the 24th state to legalize recreational use of marijuana.
Here's a look at where voters gave it the green light across the country.
