AP file / Seth Perlman Ashley Thompson inspects marijuana plants inside the "Mother Room" at an Illinois medical marijuana cultivation center. This file photo was taken in 2015.

Voters will decide in the upcoming election whether to legalize recreational marijuana for use by those at least 21 years old in Ohio.

The proposal would allow those adults to buy and possess 2.5 ounces of cannabis and 15 grams of concentrates. They also could grow up to six plants individually and no more than 12 in a household with multiple adults.

“Ohioans have seen the success of our medical marijuana program, but they’ve also seen too many people unable to get access for conditions that don’t qualify,” said Tom Haren, an attorney and spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which is backing the issue on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Early voting starts Wednesday.

Medical marijuana became legal in Ohio in September 2016 and operational two years later. But there are restrictions on the medical conditions to be eligible to purchase marijuana in Ohio.

The recreational marijuana proposal in Ohio is an initiated statute and not a constitutional amendment. That means if it passes, the Republican-controlled state Legislature could make changes to it.

Asked if a repeal by the Legislature was possible if the issue passes, Haren said, “I’m not aware of a single legislator who says they’re going to repeal it. They say it’s the will of the people if it’s passed by Ohio voters.”

OPPOSITION

Protect Ohio Workers and Families, the lead coalition against the recreational marijuana proposal, says it “is today’s version of Big Tobacco — big corporations getting rich at the expense of our kids and society.”

The coalition says if children see adults using marijuana, “they may think it’s OK for them to use it as well.” Also, the coalition calls the issue “a welfare program for drug dealers” and “a rigged game for a few greedy investors who want to change Ohio’s law for their own gain.”

The coalition includes the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, the Ohio Business Roundtable, the Ohio Christian Alliance and the Ohio Farm Bureau.

The Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board also opposes the legalization.

“We are also concerned that kids won’t think it’s harmful because it’s legal,” said April Caraway, its executive director. “Once marijuana was made legal for medical use, kids’ usage went up.”

She added: “Statistics show the earlier the use, the more problems later on. Use has gone up, and perception of harm has gone down.”

If approved by voters, the law would take effect 30 days after the results are certified.

Haren said he expects the first batch of licenses to be issued by summer 2024 and for recreational marijuana to be available for sale late next year.

“We can put the black market out of business,” he said.

The marijuana would be regulated and be less expensive than the current price of medical marijuana, Haren said.

Recreational marijuana is legal in 23 states.

“The sky hasn’t fallen in any of those states,” Haren said. “Our proposal is pretty standard. We looked at the best practices and things that could be better. We tried to craft a proposal that works for Ohio.”

TAX REVENUE

There would be a 10% tax on the sale of marijuana by dispensaries in addition to usual sales tax.

Recreational marijuana would generate more than $400 million annually in tax revenue for the state, Heren said.

Of that amount, 36%, or about $144 million, would go to social equity and jobs programs in Ohio and another 36% would go to communities with adult-use cannabis dispensaries. Also, 25%, about $100 million, would go to research and treat substance abuse in Ohio with 3% going to the newly created state Division of Cannabis Control to fund the regulatory and administrative costs of overseeing the cannabis industry in the state.

The official argument in opposition to the issue, written by three Republican state legislators, called the 10% amount a “pitiful” tax rate.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol reported raising $2,957,500 during the first six months of the year with the Marijuana Policy Project contributing $1,375,000.

The Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington, D.C., is the largest organization in the country focused on marijuana policy reform in the country.

Medical marijuana growers also contributed to the coalition in the first six months of the year including Brian Kessler, chairman of Riviera Creek Holdings LLC in Youngstown, who gave $122,500, and Daniel Kessler, Riviera’s CEO, who gave $25,000.

The coalition also spent $3,031,078 in the first half of the year with $3,006,250 going to Advanced Micro Targeting Inc. of Dallas to collect signatures on petitions to get the issue on the ballot.

BALLOT LANGUAGE

Allowable forms of marijuana to be sold include plants and seeds, extracts, drops, lozenges, oils, tincture, edibles, patches, smoking or combustible product, vaporization, beverages, pills, capsules, suppositories, oral pouches, oral strips, oral and topical sprays, salves, lotions and inhales, according to the 52-page full text of the law.

The ballot language would “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.”

The full text of the law permits landlords to not permit marijuana plants to be grown on their property, for employers to not permit employees to use recreational marijuana and for local governments to prohibit or limit the number of adult-use cannabis operators

A poll in July of 500 voters by the USA Today Network and Suffolk University found that 58.6% of respondents approve of allowing Ohioans over the age of 21 to buy and possess marijuana with 34.8% opposed and 6.6% undecided. The poll had a margin of error of 4.4%.

“Prohibition has failed,” Haren said. “You can have your life ruined with one minor mistake. You won’t be able to get a loan, a job and have other problems” if convicted of marijuana possession.

Haren said those who see marijuana as a gateway drug are using “reefer madness talking points,” referring to the 1936 propaganda film about high school students using marijuana and turning to a life of crime.

“It will have no impact on the workforce or on safety,” he said. “It will also generate hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. Consumers prefer a regulated product rather than getting it from a drug dealer.”