Group collects medical marijuana signatures on the square

• Members of Ohio Rights Group collected signatures for a medical marijuana amendment Monday.
• The group is collecting signatures to amend the state constitution to legalize medical marijuana products.
• For more information on the Ohio Rights Group%2C go to ohiorightsgroup.org.

NEWARK – For Victoria Khan, legalizing medical marijuana has nothing to do with getting high.

The Newark woman has been in six serious car accidents and had 35 surgeries. She believes medical marijuana products, also known as cannabis, would help with her pain and give her the option to avoid pain medication, which can sometimes be addictive.

But Khan, a member of the Ohio Rights Group board of directors, isn't just interested in helping herself. Since she joined the group, she's heard dozens of stories from people with a variety of chronic illnesses.

"You can't keep up with (all the stories.) You can't help everybody," she said. "People are begging for it."

A group of volunteers from the Ohio Rights Group of Licking County spent Monday on the Licking County Courthouse Square collecting signatures on petitions to put the Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment on an upcoming ballot. The date April 20, also known as four-twenty, is a significant date in cannabis culture.

Around lunchtime, Khan said the turnout had been slow but steady.

The Ohio Rights Group has been collecting signatures in support of a statewide vote on the Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment since May 2013, said Mary Jane Borden, co-founder and secretary of the board of directors.

The amendment would allow Ohio residents to use medical marijuana without fear of legal consequences.

Under the amendment, a person would have to be over 18, diagnosed with one of 30 debilitating illnesses and meet eligibility requirements to grow or use the drug, Borden said. The amendment wouldn't overturn any existing smoking bans and people wouldn't be able to drive while under the influence of the drug.

Some of the diseases on the list include glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, hepatitis C, cancer and post traumatic stress disorder.

The amendment would create a nine-member commission who would oversee the production of therapeutic medical marijuana in Ohio.

It would also declassify hemp — a variety of cannabis plant used to make products such as paper and clothing — as a drug and delegate its regulation to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

"We expect regulations to govern this and provide access for the people who need it and the people who don't have the conditions, they are not covered on this," Borden said. "It's a moral issue. We are seeing so much research that has come out that shows the medicinal benefits, it's impossible not to do this."

Borden estimates that Ohio Rights Group has about 150,000 signatures and would need to submit about 450,000. If that happens, the amendment would be placed on the ballot during a fall election.

"If we could make it to the ballot, we know we would pass," she said. "According to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, 84 percent of Ohioans are in favor of medical marijuana."

Their efforts will give patients more choices to talk to their doctors and decide what the best option is for them, Khan said.

"Right now, you are in a catch 22," Khan said. "The biggest concern is that people have to make a choice between their medications and cannabis, they have to make a choice between jail and cannabis. They have to make a decision between their lives and cannabis."

Michelle Fox, of Newark, joined Ohio Rights Group, hoping that she could one day use medical marijuana to alleviate the pain she feels from her multiple sclerosis.

She takes 29 pills a day and said she would rather use a natural product to manage her symptoms.

Some people make assumptions about why she supports medical marijuana, but her goal is to make people more aware of the drug's other uses.

Even if it takes years to collect enough signatures, it will be worth the wait, she said.

"If we can help just one person, we've made it worth it," she said. "We are trying to do it for the next generation."

ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8544

Twitter: @amsjeffries

Learn more

For more information on the Ohio Rights Group, go to ohiorightsgroup.org.