(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today rejected the petition for a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution which would attempt to legalize marijuana for medical use in the state.
On March 3rd, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office received a written petition to amend the Ohio Constitution, entitled “Medical Use of Marijuana” from the group Ohioans for Medical Marijuana. 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters were submitted. However, Attorney General DeWine found at least three defects with the summary language:
- The summary language states "no more than fifteen type 1 medical marijuana cultivation facility licenses" shall be issued. However, the proposed amendment contains provisions for issuing additional licenses.
- The summary language states that the amendment may not be construed to prevent a person from being penalized for "operating a motor vehicle, aircraft, train, or motorboat while impaired by marijuana[.]” However, the proposed amendment contains language which states qualifying patients “shall not be considered to be impaired by marijuana or marijuana products solely because of the presence of metabolites or components of marijuana that appear in insufficient concentration to cause impairment[.]”
- The summary language states there shall be additional ways to obtain valid registry identification card under certain conditions after July 1, 2017. However, the proposed amendment lists that date as August 1, 2017.
“For these reasons, I am unable to certify the summary as a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment,” DeWine stated in a letter to the petitioners.
The full text of today’s letter and of the amendment petitions submitted can be found at
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/BallotInitiatives.
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