Ohio is now open for business for recreational marijuana sales.
The state allowed dispensaries to begin selling marijuana yesterday, nine months after voters approved making recreational marijuana legal. Adults 21 and older can legally grow or buy marijuana under provisions of the statute that passed last November.
The state already had a medical marijuana infrastructure established and the 98 dispensaries that opened for business yesterday were given the greenlight by the state late last week for dual-use sales, meaning for both medical and recreational customers.
We will begin Wednesday’s “Sound of Ideas” talking with reporters who covered the first day of sales.
Later in the hour, universities across the country have faced scrutiny recently over a perceived liberal bias on campuses. Some lawmakers, like Ohio Senator Jerry Cirino, a Republican from Kirtland, see universities as places where students are immersed in liberal teachings without being exposed to other divergent viewpoints.
Cirino co-sponsored a bill that was folded into and passed last year in the state operating budget. It calls for intellectual diversity centers to be developed at five public universities: Ohio State University, Miami University, University of Toledo College of Law, Cleveland State University and Wright State University.
There has been some criticism of the need for the centers, including by college professors, such as an Ohio State history professor who called the move, "state overreach," and a University of Cincinnati professor who said, "It's going to end up essentially being a waste of resources."
We conclude the program with a discussion highlighting a current reporting series from the Arts and Culture team at Ideastream Public Media that examines how arts saves peoples’ lives.
Guests:
-Taylor Wizner, Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Sarah Donaldson, Reporter, Statehouse News Bureau
-State Sen. Jerry Cirino, (R-Kirtland), Senate District 18
-Megan Henry, Reporter, Ohio Capital Journal
-Carrie Wise, Deputy Editor, Arts and Culture, Ideastream Public Media
