Ohio votes against legalization of pot
In a major blow to marijuana legalization
nationwide, Ohio voters rejected Tuesday a sweeping initiative that would have
ended pot prohibition in the Buckeye State. Unofficial election results found
that the proposed constitutional amendment was defeated 65.1 percent to 34.8
percent.
Voters did write into the Ohio Constitution a provision that prohibits the establishment of a “monopoly, oligopoly or cartel” in the state’s founding document. Issue 2, which the state legislature wrote expressly to defeat the marijuana language, passed 52.6 percent to 47.4 percent.
At the Ohio Chamber of Commerce in downtown Columbus, opponents of legalization rejoiced in their double victory, achieved even though they were outspent by a whopping 20-to-1 ratio. Curt Steiner, campaign director for Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies, told the gathering that important issues such as the medical use of marijuana were “overshadowed by the brazen nature and far-reaching extent of the statewide money grab attempted by Issue 3 backers – an attempt voters concluded was, in this instance, an unsavory abuse of the ballot issue process.
“Issue 3 was nothing more and nothing less than a business plan to seize control of the recreational marijuana market in Ohio,” Steiner said. “Issue 3 was designed and built primarily to garner massive and exclusive profits for a small group of self-selected wealthy investors.
Tuesday’s outcome concluded a yearlong campaign by Responsible-Ohio, the private organization of wealthy Ohioans and others who put $20 million into the effort to persuade voters to legalize marijuana.
Voters did write into the Ohio Constitution a provision that prohibits the establishment of a “monopoly, oligopoly or cartel” in the state’s founding document. Issue 2, which the state legislature wrote expressly to defeat the marijuana language, passed 52.6 percent to 47.4 percent.
At the Ohio Chamber of Commerce in downtown Columbus, opponents of legalization rejoiced in their double victory, achieved even though they were outspent by a whopping 20-to-1 ratio. Curt Steiner, campaign director for Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies, told the gathering that important issues such as the medical use of marijuana were “overshadowed by the brazen nature and far-reaching extent of the statewide money grab attempted by Issue 3 backers – an attempt voters concluded was, in this instance, an unsavory abuse of the ballot issue process.
“Issue 3 was nothing more and nothing less than a business plan to seize control of the recreational marijuana market in Ohio,” Steiner said. “Issue 3 was designed and built primarily to garner massive and exclusive profits for a small group of self-selected wealthy investors.
Tuesday’s outcome concluded a yearlong campaign by Responsible-Ohio, the private organization of wealthy Ohioans and others who put $20 million into the effort to persuade voters to legalize marijuana.
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