Ohio state Reps. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, and Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland, are already sponsoring an adult-use legalization bill, but that didn’t stop them from filing similar legislation on behalf of those whom they represent.

The northeast Ohio Democratic duo filed bill language on April 20 to formally introduce the initiated statute sponsored by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA), a citizen-led effort that met a 132,877-signature threshold to put its petition before state lawmakers, the Ohio Secretary of State announced on Jan. 28.

The coalition’s proposed statute seeks to allow adults 21 and older to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis (or 15 grams of extract) and grow up to six plants per person or 12 plants per household. In addition, the proposal aims to impose a 10% tax on cannabis sales, with revenue going toward state costs to run a legalized program; substance abuse and addiction treatment programs; supporting municipalities with dispensaries; and social equity and jobs programs.

If the General Assembly fails to act and pass the statute—or an amended version of the language proposed—within four months, as determined under the Ohio Constitution, then the coalition has the option to double its signature collection (roughly 266,000 total) by early July to put the proposal directly to the voters in November.

“Marijuana legalization is overdue in Ohio,” Weinstein said in a press release to announce the 4/20 filing. “The hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters who signed this petition—and millions more who support legalization statewide—asked for action from our Legislature. Instead, GOP leaders have ignored them.”

Specifically, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told reporters Feb. 9 (less than two weeks after the Ohio Secretary validated the signatures) that he won’t act on calendaring the CRMLA citizen proposal to legalize adult-use cannabis for floor debate in his chamber.

“I don’t want anybody to misunderstand my position,” Huffman said. “I’m not going to bring it to the Senate floor. And if that means people want to go put it on the ballot, have at it.”

RELATED: Ohio Senate President Refuses to Calendar Adult-Use Proposal

Republicans hold a 25-8 majority in the Ohio Senate and a 64-35 majority in the House. Seventeen senators could sign a discharge petition to force the issue be heard on the floor, going against Huffman’s wishes, but at least nine Republican senators would have to be on board.

Upchurch believes that his fellow lawmakers should consider the citizen-led petition, he said in the April 20 press release.

“Legalizing cannabis would create good-paying jobs and generate significant revenue for our state,” he said. “We must listen to the overwhelming support from voters and take action to finally legalize cannabis in Ohio.”

Upchurch and Weinstein are also sponsoring their own adult-use cannabis legalization bill, House Bill 328, which they introduced in July 2021. Their legislation also intends to levy a 10% excise tax on cannabis sales, as well as allow adults 21 and older to buy and possess up to 5 ounces of cannabis and grow up to 12 mature plants for personal use.

The excise tax revenue generated under their proposal would be distributed in part to primary and secondary (K-12) education, for the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges, and up to $20 million annually for two years would be used for clinical trials researching the efficacy of cannabis in treating the medical conditions of veterans and preventing veteran suicide.

Should state lawmakers choose not to act on the CRMLA citizen proposal, the coalition would face another financial lift to double its valid signature total. The group spent roughly $1.1 million during the first round of its signature-gathering effort, Ohio Capital Journal reported. Cannabis advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project contributed nearly $700,000 toward that amount.

The last time an adult-use cannabis proposal was put before Ohio voters in November 2015, they rejected the issue with 63.6% casting ballots against it.

More than six years have passed without another adult-use ballot measure in the state.

Missouri could be the first state where a Republican-controlled Legislature passes an adult-use cannabis legalization measure not initiated at the ballot, but the timeline is tight.

The House Rules Committee on Legislative Oversight voted, 6-4, to advance the Cannabis Freedom Act on April 19, clearing the legislation for floor consideration by the full lower chamber. The Missouri General Assembly’s 2022 session is scheduled to end May 13.

Sponsored by Republican Rep. Ron Hicks, the legislation, House Bill 2704, aims to legalize the possession and personal use of cannabis for adults 21 and older, allowing them to purchase commercial cannabis from a licensed retailer, and to cultivate and possess no more than six mature plants for noncommercial use, according to the bill summary. Personal possession limits are not defined in the current version of the 76-page bill.

Under current Missouri laws and penalties, possessing up to 10 grams of cannabis is a misdemeanor punishable by a max fine of $500 on the first offense, and up to a year of incarceration with a max fine of $2,000 on the second offense or for the possession of 10 grams to 35 grams. Possessing more than 35 grams is a felony punishable by up to seven years of incarceration and a $10,000 max fine.

The legislation also aims to release all non-violent cannabis offenders from prison and create a system for individuals to expunge cannabis-related offenses from their records.

Republican Rep. Phil Christofanelli, who chairs the House Rules Committee, said he had “grave concerns” about the current version of the bill during Tuesday’s hearing that culminated in the 6-4 committee vote to advance the legislation, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

“I think there needs to be additional testing of the cannabis in the marketplace,” Christofanelli said. “I think there needs to be reasonable limits placed on possession and grow facilities.”

Hicks acknowledged those concerns and agreed that testing parameters need to be added to his bill, the news outlet reported.

Under the legislation, a “Cannabis Enforcement Authority” would be established within the Department of Health and Senior Services. That authority would be responsible for promulgating the necessary rules and regulations for the program, including the licensing process for cannabis cultivators, retailers, processors, transporters and wholesale distributors. The authority would also implement an inventory tracking system.

In addition, cultivators, manufacturers, processors and distributors would not be subject to special zoning requirements or licensing fees under the legislation.

And the tax rate levied on cannabis sales could not exceed 4.225%—lower than the 12% rate written in the original introduction of the bill. All tax revenue would be deposited into a “Cannabis Freedom Fund,” as established under the bill, and used to pay for costs associated with implementation, administration and enforcement of the act’s provisions.

Other notable provisions of the bill include:

• The use or possession of cannabis shall not impede a person’s legal right to possess a firearm.
• It shall be lawful for a person 21 years of age or older to transfer or gift cannabis to another adult or for a parent or guardian to transfer or gift cannabis to a person under 21 years of age if that person has a recommendation by a physician.
• No bank, trust company, association, or credit union shall be prohibited, penalized, have any adverse action taken against it, or otherwise discouraged from providing financial services to facilities licensed under the provisions of the bill.
  

According to the bill summary, those who oppose the legislation pointed to what they perceive as increased youth use and impaired driving in Colorado, which launched commercial adult-use sales in 2014, as well as an unlimited medical cannabis license structure in Oklahoma, where lawmakers are working to combat an illicit market.

Under Missouri’s Cannabis Freedom Act, the number of adult-use licenses would be limited to double the number of current medical cannabis licenses in the state, a provision that was added during the House Public Safety Committee’s clearance of the bill via a 5-4 vote on March 31.

Those who support the legislation pointed to the shortcomings of Missouri’s medical cannabis program that “is not something the Legislature can fix,” because it was passed through the initiative petition process.

“I don’t want to take anything away from the initiative petition process, but we have a medical marijuana industry in our state right now due to the initiative petition process,” Hicks said during a hearing before the Public Safety Committee last month.

“I’m sure every single one of you sitting here has received some type of an email or has heard from somebody in this state about the rollout of that program, whether it was dishonest or not fair to someone or it was rolled out wrong, or whatever the issue,” he said. “But the bottom line is, no matter what those issues are, we as body cannot fix them.”

On a similar timeline to the Legislature’s adjournment, there are three adult-use ballot initiative campaigns in Missouri that have until May 8 to submit 160,199 valid signatures to pose a constitutional amendment to voters in the November 2022 election.

As of April 20, the Cannabis Freedom Act is not on the House calendar.

On April 20, more attention than usual is paid to the power of cannabis. And, already, in states like Connecticut, where an adult-use market has been given the green light by voters, cannabis gets a lot of attention.

Adult-use sales are expected to begin later this year, which will amp up the excitement. For now, though, what’s needed to get a market like that off the ground? Reporter Matt Grahn at The Bulletin put that question to regional business owners. 

Long story short: Capital is being raised, and capital is being spent to acquire real estate and get facilities up and running.

“In terms of investing in these facilities, we’re going to be pumping $10 million to $15 million into Norwich,” Jason Webski, the CEO of Sweetspot Farms, told Grahn. “That’s not just investing in the real estate; that’s local contractors. It stimulates the economy in many ancillary ways.”

The Sweetspot Farms team is seeking a cultivation license in the small city of Norwich.

Just recently, Norwich aldermen revised the city’s zoning ordinances to allow “plant-based” manufacturing—specifically paving the way for just such a business as what Sweetspot Farms brings to the table. 

Legislative action like that "makes it crystal clear for those who wish to do business in the emerging cannabis industry that they can go to the state in full confidence that they're asking for a license to do business in Norwich, and that it'll be authorized," Norwich Community Development Corporation President Kevin Brown said earlier this month. These moments of fine-tuning local regulations are often critical in the transition period between statewide legalization and the enactment of a functioning marketplace.

Right now, Connecticut’s medical cannabis market supports four cultivation businesses (“producers” in the state’s parlance) and 18 dispensaries. More are coming, no doubt, as the adult-use market comes into view; the state began accepting certain license applications in February. All told, the adult-use market will include a broader spectrum of license types—including micro-cultivation, delivery, hybrid retail, food and beverage, and packaging, for starters. 

In the meantime, as prospective licensees are learning, it’s a balancing act. Zoning laws must be considered alongside attractive real estate leads, which must then be measured against access to capital—and all of that needs to be timed just right in the run-up to the launch of Connecticut’s market.

“It’ll take time for people to secure a location, and people don’t want to do that until they know they have a license,” Kaitlyn Krasselt, communications director of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, told Grahn.

Of course, cannabis is a long game.

The Marijuana Policy Project previously asserted that legalization in Connecticut will bring about a market clocking some $177.8 million in sales this year (assuming, at the time, that sales would begin July 2022). 

And five years from now, that figure looks more like $818.3 million in annual sales.

Michigan regulators withdrew a proposal April 15 that would allow hemp-derived THC products to be sold in the licensed cannabis market.

The proposal would have permitted hemp growers to sell plants to cannabis processors to extract into THC to then use in products sold in the licensed cannabis market, such as edibles, vapes, and tinctures, MLive reported. Any hemp-derived THC product sold would have been required to be labeled as such.

But consumer safety concerns were the main driver to withdraw the proposal.

“After receiving a significant amount of public comment regarding safety concerns and the lack of scientific and public health data related to the conversion process outlined in the proposed industrial hemp rules ... the Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) has withdrawn this request for rulemaking,” CRA officials announced Friday. CRA was formerly the Marijuana Regulatory Agency.

RELATED: Cannabis Regulatory Agency Replaces Marijuana Regulatory Agency as Michigan Cannabis Regulator

Denise Pollicella, founder and managing partner at the Cannabis Attorneys of Michigan, also argued that existing producers would not be able to compete with the out-of-state companies producing low-cost hemp to sell in the Michigan cannabis market, MLive reported.

“The industrial hemp portion of this was never going to come from Michigan,” she said. “Michigan can’t compete with Kentucky and North Carolina on hemp. They’ve got a year-round growing season that we don’t have. They have 100,000-acre hemp farms that we don’t have in Michigan.”