Toledo residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of a citizen-led initiative to abolish penalties in city law for possession and cultivation of marijuana on Tuesday, two months before the state’s voters will decide an amendment that would fully legalize the sale and use of marijuana in Ohio.
With all 226 precincts reporting, the vote was 11,197 to 4,760. If it is enforced as written, people could still be prosecuted for possession of marijuana, but would not be jailed or fined for amounts up to 200 grams.
Titled the “Sensible Marihuana Ordinance,” using the spelling already found in the Toledo Municipal Code, the lengthy document that was on the city ballot Tuesday as Issue 1 would replace existing city law.
The vote on the marijuana issue came as part of a primary election to narrow the field for four city council districts and appears to have driven turnout up to 9 percent — twice the turnout of the last time Toledo held a primary election for council districts, which was in 2011.
