BY MEGAN HENRY
A proposed recreational marijuana law will be on Ohio’s November ballot after all.
The Secretary of State’s office verified 4,405 additional valid petition signatures — bringing the grand total to 127,772, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Wednesday in a letter to the campaign. 124,046 signatures were needed.
The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol’s statute initiative would legalize and regulate cultivation, manufacturing, testing and sale of marijuana to Ohioans 21 and up. It would also legalize home grow for Ohioans 21 and up with a limit of six plants per person and 12 plants per residence, and impose a 10% tax at the point of sale for each transaction.
“We are grateful to the thousands of Ohioans who helped us get to this point and are excited to bring our proposal to regulate marijuana like alcohol before Ohio voters this coming Election Day,” spokesperson Tom Haren said.
This comes after the coalition initially came up just short of collecting enough valid signatures. The coalition submitted 223,176 signatures in July, but only 123,367 were found to be valid signatures. They recently submitted 6,545 additional signatures after the 10-day cure period.
Hamilton County submitted the most valid signatures with 1,914. Next was Franklin County with 711 and Montgomery County with 626.
Twenty-three states and Washington D.C. have legalized the recreational use and sale of cannabis.
The proposed marijuana statute will be on Nov. 7’s ballot alongside the reproductive rights amendment.
