Decision day for Ohio on pot legalization

Ohio could become the next state to legalize marijuana after voters cast ballots Tuesday on an initiative licensing 10 businesses, which would become the only legal commercial growers in the state. But passage would be a bittersweet deal for many legalization proponents, who say the measure would economically benefit only a few wealthy players. 

The 10 companies stand to make millions if the issue passes. Ohio’s Issue 3 initiative diverges from the path taken by other U.S. jurisdictions that have legalized recreational marijuana use  — Washington, Colorado, Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia — in that it creates monopolies for growing the plant. It also differs in that it would come together with the legalization of medical marijuana, which came before recreational use in other states.

“Marijuana Prohibition has failed,” the group campaigning for legalization, ResponsibleOhio, said on its website ahead of the vote tally Tuesday. Early voting began a month ago. 

“The failure has led to ruining people’s lives and wasting money that should be spent on fighting hard narcotics like heroin and meth.”

ResponsibleOhio is backed by several investors hoping to cash in on Ohio’s potential marijuana market — and the drive for the initiative was organized in 2014 by political strategist Ian James, who in 2009 spearheaded a ballot measure legalizing casinos in the state, The New York Times reported. That effort provided designated spots for casinos in a similar way to how Issue 3 would designate marijuana grow sites, the Times reported.

ResponsibleOhio says the measure would bring the state much-needed tax dollars and provide economic opportunities for entrepreneurs, as well as taking a bite out of crime.

“We can eradicate the black market, and replace it with a better, safer market,” ResponsibleOhio says on its website, repeating a common contention among pro-reform groups who say prohibition only benefits criminals, not the public.

Further complicating the situation, the decision Ohioans will make comes in two parts. Issue 3 would legalize marijuana and license the businesses — which would require a change to Ohio's anti-monopoly laws. But legalization opponents have separately introduced Issue 2, which would keep the anti-monopoly laws the way they are now, thus barring the licensing of the new businesses.

Therefore, someone who opposes monopolies and votes on Issue 2 would be contradicting his or her beliefs with a yes vote on Issue 3. But voting yes on both issues would stop marijuana from becoming legal. In an effort to cut through the confusion, pro-legalization campaigners are urging the public to vote "No on 2, Yes on 3." 

Some legalization advocates fear Issue 2 gives too much power to wealthy commercial interests who have invested tens of millions of dollars in the campaign. 

“This is being done in a way that allows only 10 businesses to cultivate all the marijuana in the entire state,” said Mason Tvert, communications director with the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates for legalization but which Tvert said is not directly involved on either side of the Ohio campaign.

“I think a lot of people would say marijuana should be treated like alcohol, with a lot more competition and a lot more producers,” Tvert said. “I think that there’s a general a sense among most people in the public that monopolies or oligopolies are not the best approach to any sort of industry. But it’s up to Ohio voters whether it works for them, or they want something different.”

A recent poll by the University of Akron shows Ohio voters evenly split on the issue with 46 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed, news website Cleveland.com reported.

The legalization effort represents “opportunists seeking monopolistic gains," The New York Times quoted Don Wirtshafter, a pro-legalization lawyer, hemp manufacturer and avowed marijuana smoker, as saying.

But ResponsibleOhio said that the 10 growers would not comprise a permanent monopoly, and that the measure would set up a state Marijuana Control Commission that could add other grow sites over time.

“We find this is the most responsible way to move from prohibition to legalization, to keep highly regulated, strict and safe. Folks can grow four flowering plants at home, but there’s going to be opportunities across the board in the industry, including retail and manufacturing facilities,” Faith Oltman, a spokeswoman for ResponsibleOhio, told Al Jazeera.

Oltman added that the 10 growers would compete, and that evidence of them colluding to keep prices high would be met with a revocation of their licenses to grow pot in the state.

She added that the millions of dollars poured into the campaign by would-be growers have been necessary to fight the establishment forces that put Issue 2 on the ballot to confuse the issue.

For the pro-legalization camp, waiting for another ballot initiative in 2016 won’t make the effort any easier, Oltman said.

Waiting for 2016, she said, “does not take into consideration the amount of resources it takes to get an issue on the ballot, or fighting the establishment who has been against us since day one, and will find a reason to oppose marijuana legalization no matter what.”