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Ohio Attorney General Approves First Step for Amendement That Would De-Criminalize Marijuana

Photo of marijuana
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU

Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment to make marijuana legal in Ohio have passed the first big hurdle in that process.

Ohio attorney general has approved a proposed amendment by the group, “Ohio Families for Change.” Spokesman Jonathan Varner says the premise is simple,  that marijuana should be treated and regulated the same or substantially the same as alcohol and tobacco.”

It would leave the state’s medical marijuana program in place and would de-criminalize arecreational use of marijuana. But backers would need more than 300,000 valid signatures by July for this fall’s ballot. So Varner says the group is shooting for next November.

“2018 just isn’t really realistic. That said, 2019 absolutely is.”

This is one of several marijuana-related proposals that citizens’ groups have talked about taking to the ballot. 

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.