Voters in Ohio will decide on an initiative, Issue 2, to legalize marijuana on Nov. 7.
Issue 2 is not the first marijuana legalization that has been on the ballot in Ohio. In 2015, Ohio voters rejected an initiative, Issue 3, with 64% voting against the measure. The two initiatives differ in how facilities would be licensed, how much marijuana could be possessed and grown, how marijuana would be taxed, and how tax revenue would be spent.
Issue 3 of 2015 would have legalized the sale and use of marijuana and would have created 10 facilities with exclusive rights to grow marijuana commercially. Anyone 21 years or older with a license purchased from the Ohio Marijuana Control Commission would have been able to use, possess, grow, cultivate, and share up to eight ounces of homegrown marijuana and four flowering marijuana plants. Anyone 21 years or older (with or without a license) would have been able to purchase, possess, transport, use, and share up to one ounce of marijuana.
Issue 2 would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 years old and older, who would be allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and up to 15 grams of marijuana concentrates. People would be permitted to cultivate up to six marijuana plants at home, while households could cultivate up to 12 combined plants.
Responding to Issue 3, the Ohio State Legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the ballot in 2015. That amendment was designed to prevent ballot measures…