By Noelle Skodzinski
ResponsibleOhio (RO) launched Monday a "Green Rush Bus Tour" to visit Ohio's 88 counties to advocate for the group's Marijuana Legalization Amendment, which would legalize marijuana use by adults and establish an Ohio Marijuana Control Commission to regulate retail and medical marijuana sales, distribution and cultivation.
"We launched our educational bus tour today, and we'll be traveling Ohio to get past the fiction and provide voters, including the over 750,000 people who signed our petition, with the facts about marijuana reform," said Executive Director Ian James in a statement. "Our opposition is stuck on the status quo of 'Just Say No,' while RO is coming up with constructive solutions. They continue to peddle failed ideas that reinforce the failed War on Drugs. Their unfortunate stance means they're protecting drug dealers who don’t pay taxes, care about sick people, create legitimate jobs or check kids' IDs."
“It’s time for marijuana legalization in Ohio,” commented RO spokesperson Faith Oltman in a press release announcing the bus tour. “We can’t wait to share with voters that marijuana reform will bring tens of thousands of jobs to our state and millions in tax revenue to our local communities, provide compassionate care for sick Ohioans and help us take our streets back from drug dealers.”
The tour will travel to major landmarks, town squares and college campuses over the next 12 weeks, making more than 150 total stops, according to the group's press release.
The group also has put together a video series to educate Ohioans about the legalization initiative.
Since RO submitted the petition to get the Marijuana Legalization Amendment on the election ballot for Ohio voters, the group has faced some controversy in its efforts.
RO’s proposal has been criticized for naming 10 cannabis cultivation sites reportedly to be owned by the campaign’s financiers. Well-known marijuana enthusiast and lifestyle media brand High Times went head-to-head with the group, referring to it as “IrresponsibleOhio,” in a back and forth with RO's Ian James.
Recently, Ohio NORML, one of the state’s oldest and most widely known marijuana advocacy organizations, ousted its president for supporting ResponsibleOhio’s initiative.
And an op-ed in Cannabis Business Times referred to RO as a cartel.
It also has run into some controversy over its petition signatures.
While it submitted far more (695,273) than the required number (305,591) of petition signatures to secure a place on the 2015 election ballot, more than half were found to be invalid, and it was given 10 days to collect approximately 30,000 additional signatures to meet the required number.
Ohio Secretary of State John HustedOhio Secretary of State John Husted
In the meantime, however, an investigation for fraud was initiated by Ohio Secretary of State John Husted. The investigation was launched to "review discrepancies in the petitions submitted by ResponsibleOhio in their effort to place a constitutional amendment before voters this fall,” according to a press release issued by Husted’s office.
According to a recent report by Cannabis Business Times, RO contends that the suit was created as a means of punishment. "We found discrepancies between the number of part petitions we turned in and the number the County Boards of Elections reported that we turned in. We brought these very discrepancies to Secretary Husted, and now he’s trying to punish us for pointing them out publicly. In doing so, we were merely exercising our first amendment right to raise legitimate challenges and concerns,” RO Legal Counsel Larry James said in statement.
Still, RO managed to get its Marijuana Legalization Amendment on the ballot. Aug. 12, Husted's office issued a press release announcing that RO had submitted the required number of signatures. "Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted today certified that petitioners seeking to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2015 ballot have collected 44,185 additional, supplemental signatures. This number joins the 276,082 valid signatures the group submitted on June 30, 2015 for a total of 320,267 valid signatures," according to the release.
The next step is for the Ballot Board to approve the ballot language that voters will consider this fall.
The Ohio legislature, however, also is demonstrating concerns over RO's proposal and, in fact, has pushed legislation designed specifically to counteract it. In late July, the Ohio General Assembly voted in support of an anti-monopoly constitutional amendment. It passed House Joint Resolution 4, putting on the November election ballot a "proposal to amend Section 1e of Article II of the Constitution of the State of Ohio to prohibit an initiated constitutional amendment that would grant a monopoly, oligopoly, or cartel, specify or determine a tax rate, or confer a commercial interest, right, or license to any person or nonpublic entity," as HJR 4 states.
"As you may have heard, a group called ResponsibleOhio has been collecting signatures to add a proposed amendment to this year’s ballot that would give a small group of investors the exclusive right to farm and sell marijuana in our state. Regardless of your opinion on the legalization of marijuana, it is easy to see how such a constitutionally-sanctioned monopoly undermines the intent of the ballot initiative," wrote State Representative Louis Blessing (R-Colerain Township) in a Guest Column on the Ohio House of Representatives website.
"As a state representative, it is my responsibility to defend the rights of my constituents and the Ohio constitution. The General Assembly has taken care to ensure that the amendment proposed by HJR 4 would not have any unintended consequences that would infringe on the right of Ohioans to use the constitutional initiative process. Ohioans will have the opportunity to vote this November on the anti-monopoly constitutional amendment," added Blessing.
"If Ohio voters approve the amendment, it would block the marijuana legalization plan that is expected to also be on the ballot — even if voters say yes to legal marijuana, according to the resolution," reported the Dayton Daily News.
RO announced Aug. 7 that it is also collecting signatures for the Fresh Start Act, a proposal to offer a clean slate for people who received the unfair and harsh punishment associated with minor marijuana infractions.
