Editor's note: ResponsibleOhio's Nov. ballot issue has seen pushback from multiple advocate sources in the industry. Most recently, this has led the group to bring suit against the Ohio Secretary of State, Jon Husted.
If the federal government ever lifts its national prohibition of marijuana, ResponsibleOhio's proposed monopoly on growing it in Ohio likely would go up in smoke.
That's because of the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause, which reserves the ability to control trade between states exclusively for the federal government, constitutional scholars say. Ohio can do what it wants in terms of limiting what happens within its borders, they say — but not when it comes to trade from another state.
“State and local governments cannot enact laws that discriminate against interstate commerce,” said Brannon Denning, a constitutional law scholar and associate dean and a professor at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law in Alabama.
