No Ohio marijuana legalization measure on the 2019 ballot

Ohioans will not vote in 2019 whether to broadly legalize marijuana in the Buckeye State, despite several recent reports to the contrary.

Yes, there was a proposed constitutional amendment in the works last year, but that effort largely fizzled last fall. 

Ohio Families for Change, the group backing the Marijuana Rights and Regulations amendment, deactivated its Facebook page and website long ago. It closed out its campaign finance account with the state on April 18.

“Ohio Families for Change, which is a former client of mine, has no plans on advancing their ballot language in either 2019 or 2020,” former campaign spokesman Jonathan Varner told The Enquirer.

Varner said he stopped working for the campaign in November 2018.  

Varner said the proposed measure was well-drafted and proposed ample regulations and consumer protections and didn’t lock in profits for specific people. A failed 2015 Ohio marijuana legalization measure was funded by 10 investor groups that owned the only 10 sites were commercial marijuana could be grown.

Varner said it’s hard to raise money for a legalization measure without promise of a profit.

“No one’s going to pony up millions of dollars without some clear advantage for them,” Varner said. [Read more at The Cincinnati Enquirer]