Live Cannabis Election Coverage: Ohio Voters Approve Adult-Use Measure

BREAKING: Ohio Voters Legalize Adult-Use Cannabis in Redemption Election

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BREAKING: With just 55% of votes counted, the Associated Press, New York Times, CNN, and other media outlets called a victory for Ohioans who supported Issue 2, the adult-use cannabis legalization measure that makes their state the 24th to legalize the plant, and aims to reform laws and establish a regulated market.

With 100% of precincts now reported, the measure is holding a roughly 56.97% to 43.03% margin, according to unofficial election results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. 

READ MORE: Ohio Voters Legalize Adult-Use Cannabis in Redemption Election

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Original article, posted at 4:10 p.m. ET Nov. 7.

The citizen-initiated statutory measure is sponsored by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA) and needed a simple 50-percent-plus-one majority to pass.

In an effort to legalize, regulate and tax adult-use cannabis, the proposal would allow adults 21 years and older to purchase and possess up to 2.5 ounces of flower (or 15 grams of extract) and to home cultivate up to six plants per person or a maximum of 12 plants per household.

In addition, the measure also includes provisions for a commercialized cultivation and retail marketplace. Notably, Ohio’s existing medical operators, many of whom contributed more than $100,000 toward CRMLA’s legalization campaign, would have first-mover advantage via transitioning their operations to an expanded market with adult-use sales potentially launching as soon as September 2024.

Source: Ohio Secretary of State

Ohio’s medical cannabis market, which was legalized in 2016 via House Bill 523 and signed into law by former Republican Gov. John Kasich, now includes 37 licensed cultivators and 111 licensed dispensaries, as of Nov. 2, that serve roughly 185,000 active patients.

CRMLA spokesperson Tom Haren, a partner and chair of Cleveland-based cannabis law practice Frantz Ward LLC, recently told Cannabis Business Times that the medical cannabis program’s track record provides a forecast for how things could potentially run under an expanded adult-use market. 

“Here in Ohio, we have a successful medical marijuana program that has shown we know how to safely and reliably regulate the production and sale of marijuana products without the sky falling like we heard from the same prohibitionist crowd,” Haren says. “You know, they all said all these terrible things would happen six or seven years ago and none of them happened.”

RELATED: Ohio Cannabis Operators Say Adult-Use Legalization Chances Look Promising

Ohio’s lawmakers, many of whom have voiced opposition to Issue 2, will have the final say over specific codified language should it pass—they may repeal certain provisions in the initiated text, such as the allowance of home grows. But the proposed measure sets a 30-day timeline for a new law to take effect following the election.

And that’s a key detail that has raised some concern among Ohio’s medical cannabis operators.

Just last month, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, called cannabis legalization a “mental health crisis” in his opposition to Issue 2 during a floor speech in his chamber. After his speech, he told reporters, “I will advocate for reviewing it and repealing things or changing things that are in it,” the Statehouse New Bureau reported.

Overall, 25 of the 26 Republican state senators in Ohio opposed the referendum, according to BallotPedia. And Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens also opposed the legalization measure.

While Ohio lawmakers had the opportunity to use the legislative process to review the initiated measure’s text earlier this year and amend it to adopt their own legislation, they chose not to act. As a result, CRMLA advocates collected the signatures necessary to put their proposal before voters this election.

And now that it’s up to the voters, Andy Rayburn, CEO of Buckeye Relief, told CBT last month that Issue 2 passing with strong support could perhaps sway state legislators from straying from what’s actually written in the proposal when they enact a new law. A medical cannabis operator, Buckeye Relief has a 65,000-square-foot indoor cultivation and processing facility near Cleveland. The company contributed $50,000 toward the CRMLA campaign.

“We want to win by as large a margin as possible, because the next step after Election Day will be the Legislature trying to either appeal or change our initiated statute,” Rayburn said. “The bigger the margin of victory, the less legislators will be motivated to mess with something that passes by a popular vote.”

Leading up to the election, polling numbers in support of legalizing adult-use cannabis were strong among Ohio’s likely voters. For example, a Public Policy Polling survey of 638 likely voters last month showed that 59% supported Issue 2, while 39% opposed the measure and 2% were unsure. 

Another poll released last month by Ohio’s Baldwin Wallace University showed that 57% of 750 likely voters who participated in a survey planned to support Issue 2, while 7% of respondents said they were undecided.

But the poll that counts is the one on Election Day, and those who supported Ohio’s last adult-use ballot measure in 2015 learned that the hard way. A Bowling Green State University poll the month before that election showed that likely voters favored adult-use legalization, 44.4% to 42.9%, with 12.7% undecided. And a University of Akron poll the month before the election showed that likely voters were even on the issue, 46% to 46%, with 8% undecided.

When Election Day came, the 2015 measure suffered a resounding defeat with 63.7% of voters in opposition. One of the main hurdles for that reform effort was that the issue was heavily attacked by major dailies—like the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Cincinnati Enquirer—for its inclusion of licensing rights to 10 investors backing the campaign, including Green Thumb Industries founder Ben Kovler, lead singer Nick Lachey of boyband 98 Degrees, and even NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.

No such licensing rights are included in the 2023 measure, and editorial boards of major publications such as the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Crain’s Cleveland Business have urged readers to support cannabis legalization this time around.

Rather, under Issue 2’s initiated text, a newly established Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) within the Ohio Department of Commerce would oversee a regulated marketplace, including the licensing of cultivators, manufacturers, dispensaries and testing laboratories.

The DCC would be required to add 40 new cultivation licenses and 50 new dispensary licenses to the adult-use program, which are to be issued “with preference to applicants who are participants under the cannabis social equity and jobs program,” according to the initiated text. The Ohio Department of Development would be responsible for certifying applicants for this program.

In addition, Issue 2 intends to establish a 10% cannabis excise tax to be levied at adult-use retail facilities. Thirty-six percent of the revenue generated from this tax would fund the social equity and jobs program. The remaining revenue would go toward supporting municipalities with dispensaries (36%); education, substance abuse and addiction treatment programs (25%); and covering state costs to run a legalized program (3%).

The DCC could reassess market conditions and award additional adult-use licenses 24 months after the first batch of adult-use licenses are initially issued.

Also under the approved ballot measure, local control is preserved for municipalities to adopt resolutions to ban or limit the number of adult-use cannabis operators permitted in their jurisdictions. However, municipalities where medical cannabis cultivators and processors exist cannot restrict or limit these licensees from transitioning to adult-use operations, but municipalities can restrict existing medical dispensaries not connected to cultivation or processing facilities from transitioning to adult-use sales within their jurisdictions.

Under Issue 2’s proposed adult-use cannabis tax structure, which includes the 10% excise tax, a 5.75% state sales tax and a maximum 2.25% local sales tax, the Ohio State University’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center projectedin August that a legalized market would generate between $276 million and $403 million in annual tax revenue by the fifth year of commercial cannabis operations.

Notably, Ohio’s nearly 12 million residents provide for a potential tipping point for reform in the U.S.: Should Issue 2 pass, more than half the county’s population—roughly 52.7%—would live in a legalized adult-use state.