Legalization of Marijuana in Ohio
Marijuana advocates scored major victories at the voting block during the November elections. Voters approved ballot measures in Colorado and Washington that reversed federal law to legalize the drug’s recreational use. The victories could be short lived as the federal government ponders its response, but there has been a notable change in public sentiment on the subject. It is now conceivable that marijuana could be legalized throughout more of the country as 22 states are currently considering legislation to either legalize consumption and sale of marijuana or decriminalize minor possession offenses.
The state of Ohio was added to that list in 2012 when the Ohio Ballot Board approved two separate issues, the Medical Cannabis Amendment of 2012 and the Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment to the ledger. Supporters of the legalization of medical marijuana will now have to gather 385,245 signatures of registered voters by July 6, 2013 to bring it to a state-wide vote in November of 2013 (Johnson, 2013). Anti-drug advocates see Ohio has a pretty conservation state and believe supporters of the two amendments will have a difficult time acquiring the required signatures. Medical marijuana supporters see this as a human rights issue, not a decision that should be left up to the FDA or the government. So the question at hand, would Ohioans be better off with the legalization of medical marijuana? The issue of legalizing marijuana is a hot button topic these days, mainly because of the noise being created by lobbyists who are clamoring for legislation that will decriminalize the possession and use of the substance. And conservatives who have long relied on heavy turnout from evangelicals when abortion or same sex marriage proposals were on the voting block might be in for a battle with a powerful new voting bloc that has emerged: young people. November’s elections in Colorado and Washington showed that voters between the ages of 18 to 29 accounted for a
The state of Ohio was added to that list in 2012 when the Ohio Ballot Board approved two separate issues, the Medical Cannabis Amendment of 2012 and the Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment to the ledger. Supporters of the legalization of medical marijuana will now have to gather 385,245 signatures of registered voters by July 6, 2013 to bring it to a state-wide vote in November of 2013 (Johnson, 2013). Anti-drug advocates see Ohio has a pretty conservation state and believe supporters of the two amendments will have a difficult time acquiring the required signatures. Medical marijuana supporters see this as a human rights issue, not a decision that should be left up to the FDA or the government. So the question at hand, would Ohioans be better off with the legalization of medical marijuana? The issue of legalizing marijuana is a hot button topic these days, mainly because of the noise being created by lobbyists who are clamoring for legislation that will decriminalize the possession and use of the substance. And conservatives who have long relied on heavy turnout from evangelicals when abortion or same sex marriage proposals were on the voting block might be in for a battle with a powerful new voting bloc that has emerged: young people. November’s elections in Colorado and Washington showed that voters between the ages of 18 to 29 accounted for a