Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost approved revised language for an adult-use cannabis legalization measure Aug. 20, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Earlier this month, Yost rejected a previous version of the language, which was submitted by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. Yost ruled that the summary of the group’s 45-page initiative petition was not a “fair and truthful statement of the proposed law.”
The group submitted revised summary language Aug. 13.
RELATED: Group Launches Effort to ‘Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol’ in Ohio
The proposed law would legalize and regulate adult-use cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, testing and sales to adults 21 and older. Adults would be allowed to grow up to six plants at home for personal use, with a maximum of 12 plants per household.
The proposal would levy a 10% tax on adult-use cannabis sales, which would fund a social equity program, communities that host adult-use dispensaries, substance abuse and addiction services, and a Division of Cannabis Control, which would oversee the adult-use cannabis industry.
"It replaces prohibition with a sensible framework for regulation and taxation,” Tom Haren, a spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, told Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary earlier this month. “It utilizes the existing medical marijuana infrastructure to provide a quick path to legal sales to adults that will provide an alternative for Ohio consumers to the unregulated market or spending their money out of state.”
With Yost’s seal of approval in hand, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol must now receive certification from the Ohio Ballot Board, which will determine whether the measure contains one topic or multiple ones, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
If the Ballot Board certifies the petition, the coalition must collect 132,887 signatures to submit the proposed law to Ohio lawmakers for consideration, according to the news outlet.
The Legislature would then have four months to act on the proposal, and if they choose not to pass the bill, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol could collect another 132,887 signatures to place the measure on Ohio’s 2022 ballot, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
