Columbus, Ohio – The Republicans of the Ohio Senate voted to change the recreational policy of marijuana according to which the voters devoted the law in 2023. In the midst of the demonstrations of cannabis lovers, the leaders of the GOP continue to argue that the voters did not really know what they voted during the elections.
From the discovery of medicinal cannabis while dealing with polycystic ovarian syndrome to the collection of signatures to legalize recreational marijuana, Tasha Roundree fought on the front line for the product.
“Just having something to help me get up, make me move,” said Routree, noting other advantages of cannabis, such as the way it facilitates his anxiety.
This is why it is extremely disappointed with state legislators. Since the Ohioans voted massively to allow cannabis for adult use in 2023, legislators tried to change the law.
“We feel lied, we feel Bamboozled, we feel infiltrated in our community,” she said.
The Republicans of the Senate are now adopted Senate bill 56This would decrease the authorized THC content in products and would limit the growth of the house from 12 factories to six. The vote was along the party, the nine democrats voting no.
The THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid, would be capped at 100 milligrams per package. It also mainly reduces eligible THC levels in adult use extracts by a maximum of 90% to 70%.
To learn more about the bill, click to read this article by the media news partner 5, the Ohio Capital Journal.
Senator of the State Kristina Roegnner (R-Hudson) believes that these changes are common sense for public security.
“We want to make sure that this is done in a responsible manner, respectfully and protects the children of Ohio,” she said.
The legislator noted that the bill had a series of advertising restrictions so that it does not target young people.
Product packaging cannot use any cartoon or character that would appeal to children. Advertisers are not allowed to promote less than 500 feet in a series of places, such as a school, a church and a public library. They are not allowed to affirm that marijuana has “positive health or therapeutic effects”.
It also retracts even more on public smoking.
“I don’t think we want our children to be exposed to these types of materials or chemicals,” added Roengner. “It’s just not healthy.”
It is easier to say where you can smoke under the current law: private property which allows it.
As I previously pointed out, the law is relatively clear, according to legal experts and politicians. Part of the anti-tabac law indicates that the law is prohibited from public interior spaces; However, there are a few exceptions: exterior patios, individual rooms in nursing homes or hotels and motels that designate rooms to “smoke”.
This seemed to be tackling a very niche aspect of the ban on private residence, which means that if this residence is a childcare house or a place where the rental contract declares that no one can smoke, a user could obtain a minor offense.
The bill would modify the tax structure. Instead of part of the funds going to a social action fund, which would help marginalized communities to obtain dispensary licenses, that money would be held until the legislators decide where it should go, according to an analysis of the Legislative Services Commission.
Roundree believes that the black community deserves to have a participation in industry, because in -depth data and research has shown that it has been disproportionately affected by the laws related to marijuana.
“We do not have culture sites, we do not have the treatment and now we do not have the dispensary-and now we even have the opportunity,” she said. “So it’s like, what do we do for it? We were lied, we (had) a stolen opportunity.”
In one way or another, it seems that the social equity and job program has already been deleted from the State website, although SB 56 is not in force.
A page on the website of the Develop Ministry here. It is no longer available from Wednesday evening. I contacted the department; However, it was after closing the business, so I’m waiting for an answer.
The bill would also limit the number of dispensaries in the state to 350. Roundree feared that this eliminates competition, but Roegrier did not agree.
“I don’t think it will smoothed the industry,” she said. “I mean, it is certainly a booming industry.
Something that the supporters of marijuana loved, it was a provision that has been deleted that would have made marijuana more expensive.
However, tax policy is currently debated in the state operating budget.
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Willingness of voters
The sponsor of Bill Steve Huffman (R -Tipp City) said that the voters knew they wanted legal weeds – but did not know everything they voted on.
“I do not know why people voted for the initiative – it could have developed at home, public smoking, an increase in dispensaries; it could have been anything,” said Huffman. “We will never know.”
I asked why this rhetoric persists.
“(You and other legislators said) The voters knew they chose marijuana, but they didn’t know exactly what they voted. Why do you think that?” I asked the President of the Senate Rob McColley (R-Napoleon).
“Well, I wouldn’t say they didn’t know what they are voting on,” he said, contradicting He and his colleagues have said for years. “I think what the commentary was done today is that everyone may have a different reason to get to yes and, just like with any other great legislation, which is voluminous and deals with various changes.”
He said that since voters have chosen to vote on it as a status initiated instead of a constitutional amendment, they should have known the risk that legislators get involved.
For the context, there are two main ways in which citizens can obtain something on the state -of -scale voting ballot: an initiated law and a constitutional amendment. The Marijuana recreational proposal was an initiated law, which means that it goes into the revised Ohio code. A law initiated, or a law, has an easier process to go to the ballot than a constitutional amendment. The laws initiated can be easily modified, while the changes cannot.
When he was pressed further by another journalist, McColley replied frustrated that there were “a variety of reasons” for which people voted for the bill – and some people voted for one thing and perhaps not another.
“Do you think that the changes he has proposed go against the will of the voters?” I asked Rountree.
“Absolutely, absolutely,” she replied. “How can you say that I am smart enough to vote for you in power, but I am not intelligent enough to know what I voted for? Either I am incompetent, or I am not.”
The bill will be sent to the Chamber for examination.
President Huffman, who in December declared that he wanted to radically change the State Marijuana Act, had apparently changed his heart in January. He went back on at least some of his restrictions proposed after having meetings with the passionate of the state resident of the State.
The representative of the State Jamie Callender (R-Concord), who blocked Huffman’s dramatic changes, of the success of the last general meeting, said that he had met the speaker to help him teach him about the drug and current politics.
He has helped many other Republicans to face the legalization of cannabis, said Callender.
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