Editor's Note: While some marijuana-legalization activists will be rooting for ResponsibleOhio to pull this off, others will continue to oppose the proposed ballot measure for its "cartel-like" specification of 10 grow sites to be owned by campaign financiers. At a recent event in Dayton, those those behind ResponsibleOhio collided with opponents (who event organizers said had been "disruptive at events in the past") during a "public" discussion around a subject that will impact citizens statewide.
A proposed Ohio marijuana-legalization amendment could initially fall short of the number of signatures required to qualify for the fall ballot.
But Ian James, executive director of ResponsibleOhio, guaranteed on Friday that his organization will gather sufficient additional names during a 10-day grace period.
Spot checks by The Dispatch with the Franklin County Board of Elections and boards in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo showed an average validity rate of less than 42 percent so far for signatures submitted by ResponsibleOhio, the organization advocating a for-profit plan to legalize marijuana statewide for personal and medicinal use. None of the five boards contacted has completed the validation process, which must be done by July 16.
