Backers of a plan to allow voters to approve a constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana use and allow production of hemp have taken the first step to put it on the ballot. Tonya Davis with Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis says the proposal would de-criminalize recreational use of marijuana in Ohio.
"We just believe that they need to stop wasting our tax dollars on arresting and harassing and tearing up families for something that is safer than aspirin”
Davis points out it’s currently legal to buy products made with hemp in Ohio but it’s not legal to grow it and make the same products here. Davis and backers of her proposed amendment have handed in signatures to state officials to start the process of putting the issue on the November 2014 ballot. At least one thousand valid signatures are needed at this point to get the language certified. After that, the group will have to collect nearly 400 thousand valid signatures to actually put the issue before voters next fall.