Pot activists cheer ballot move to stop ResponsibleOhio

Just in the past week, the politics of legalizing marijuana in Ohio in 2015 has created strange bedfellows – conservative legislators and longtime marijuana activists who want to stop the initiative of the private group ResponsibleOhio.

The Ohio Legislature has placed on the Nov. 3 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment that would forbid any addition to the state constitutional creating "a monopoly, oligopoly or cartel," especially to sell and distribute a federally controlled substance, such as marijuana.

Several hours before the Ohio Senate voted June 30 on the anti-monopoly initiative, ResponsibleOhio turned in 695,273 signatures of Ohio voters to the state to put its Marijuana Legalization Amendment on this year's ballot. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted will need several weeks to ensure that the correct number of signatures to qualify, 305,591, are valid.

If ResponsibleOhio's petition campaign succeeds, voters will go into the polling booth with a curious choice. If both initiatives win, the legislature's language goes into effect immediately, aned ResponsibleOhio's proposal would be dead in the water. Then the election lawyers head for court with the inevitable legal challenges.

Activists in the Ohio marijuana movement have not contained their delight at the legislative initiative, ignited and pushed by the Republican executive branch, conservative lawmakers and Democratic House member Mike Curtin.

Aaron Weaver of Vermilion, president of Citizens Against ResponsibleOhio, noted the unusual banding together of conservatives who are wary at best at the prospect of legalization and the activists who want legalization, just not the ResponsibleOhio plan.

"It is very interesting that all these different parties have come together with the same purpose in mind, to stop the hijacking of our constitution by private interests," Weaver said. "It's very strange indeed, but the collaboration of different groups for a mutually beneficial and moral purpose, I think, is a good thing."

Growing the crop on 10 farms

ResponsibleOhio is a group of private investors ready to spend $20 million between now and Election Day to pass its constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana. The commercial crop would be limited to 10 separate farms, which the investors now own but which would compete against each other.

Some opponents have called this plan a monopoly – a business only one person or entity owns – but the correct economic term is oligopoly, a business few people own.

In a statement after the vote Tuesday night, Ian James, executive director of ResponsibleOhio signaled how his organization would define the coming debate.

"Lawmakers voted today to continue failed marijuana prohibition, further Ohio's dangerous black market, deny compassionate care to Ohioans with debilitating chronic diseases, kill jobs and stop economic progress and take away the vote and voice of the people," he said.

Activists glad for potential fight

But marijuana activists said they do not size up the situation that way. Sri Kavuru is president of Ohioans to End Prohibition, an organization that has its own legalization initiative for the 2016 ballot.

"When it comes to certain things, we all definitely agree that we do not want to have constitutional monopolies in place," Kavuru said. OTEP activists will encourage voters to vote no on the ResponsibleOhio language and yes to the legislative initiative, he said.

"I'm glad that Ohioans are going to get a chance to vote against setting up monopolies in the constitution," he said. "It doesn't affect our legalization effort or any other legalization effort in the future, and we're really happy about that."

Linda Bumpass, a Finneytown activist with OTEP, said her opposition to ResponsibleOhio is rooted in part in the 2009 constitutional amendment that created four casinos in Ohio. She said voters may not have realized what they were doing in limiting the gambling business.

"There are 75,000 farmers in Ohio, and farmers are always looking for a more lucrative crop. They would not be able to grow marijuana under ResponsibleOhio," she said.

"If ResponsibleOhio is voted in, it should be because people are informed, and that is their choice, and this is democracy," Bumpass said. "I don't want something like the casinos without people understanding what it means. The marijuana industry is a lot bigger than gambling."

A possible setback to legalization

Nicole Scholten of Cincinnati is spokeswoman for Ohio Families CANN, a group of activist parents who want access to marijuana to treat their sick children. The group believes ResponsibleOhio would not meet their needs, and, "Within the context of seeking a better life for our children, Ohio Families CANN has always been willing to work with anyone interested in supporting best medicine for those children, no matter the political affiliation."

Brad White of Mount Lookout, a brand marketer at Procter & Gamble, has started and sold two businesses in his life, and he believes passage of the ResponsibleOhio plan will step on "the entrepreneurial spirit."

"Any form of keeping it illegal is a tough thing to stomach because of all the benefits, especially to people in the medical community," White said. "But I would much rather wait a year and have the right type of economic environment, where everyone has an opportunity to create their own profitability, rather than give wealthy investors a head start."

Other activists said they worry the ballot clash between the legislative initiative and the ResponsibleOhio proposal will set back the legalization cause.

John Pardee is a former president and current board member of Ohio Rights Group, which has been collecting signatures to establish an Ohio medical-marijuana program. Pardee noted that the legislature has refused for almost 20 years even to discuss bills that would legalize marijuana.

"We've been having a debate in our community about the merits of what the legislature is trying to do with this thing and, in my opinion, it has nothing to do with protecting Ohioans from economic forces," Pardee said. "ResponsibleOhio isn't perfect, but it has a lot of the pieces that ending prohibition needs to be successful."