Ohio voters will go to the polls on Tuesday to vote on a constitutional amendment on the legalization of marijuana in smokable and edible forms for both recreational use for 18 year-olds and above and patients of any age with qualified medical conditions.
The subject on the polls is Issue No. 3, the proposed amendment that is profit-oriented, which is backed by 10 groups of wealthy investors who will be spending $25 million for the legalization campaign. And if Issue No. 3 passes, the same wealthy investors will have exclusive rights to growing commercial marijuana in the state of Ohio.
Issue No. 3, in other words, would legalize marijuana possession, consumption and cultivation in Ohio. CNN, in its report, said that Issue No. 3 is a first in many aspects. One, it is the first marijuana reform campaign "funded almost entirely by investors." Thus, upon passage, these investors will primarily benefit from it. Second, Issue No. 3 would make Ohio the first state to legalize marijuana without first legalizing it for medical purposes. And third, the upcoming poll will be the first to have Issue No. 3 appear simultaneously with another initiative, which is Issue No. 2 (which seeks to nullify the legalization initiative.)
CNN added that the main problem of Issue No. 3 is that it restricts commercial production of marijuana to the 10 groups of principal investors who backed the legalization campaign, creating a "constitutionally mandated oligopoly."
This problematic provision of Issue No. 3, according to The New York Times, had long-time marijuana advocate Don Wirtshafter oppose the amendment to legalize marijuana in Ohio. Wirthshafter, a lawyer in Ohio, has spent most of his life fighting for marijuana legalization and calling it his "life's work." But by passing Issue No. 3, Wirtshafter says that it would only benefit "opportunists seeking monopolistic gains." Hence he is voting against it.
Sharing the same concern, Drug Policy Alliance executive director Ethan Nadelmann, who helped lead the national drive for marijuana legalization, said that he is remaining neutral on endorsing Issue No. 3 because of its problematic oligopoly provision.
