ResponsibleOhio, a group advocating for legalized marijuana, released a new revision to their ballot proposal Tuesday. The proposal will now allow individuals to apply for permits to home-grow their own marijuana.
Ohioans might soon be able to legally grow marijuana in their homes, assuming a ballot proposal legalizing the drug passes in November.
The proposal, originally released earlier this month by the political action committee ResponsibleOhio, would amend the state constitution to legalize marijuana for both medical and recreational use.
Lydia Bolander, a spokeswoman for the group, announced in a news release Tuesday that they were in the process of revising the proposal.
The original proposal would have allowed marijuana to be grown at one of ten growing facilities in the state. The plants would then be sent to one of five testing facilities before being sent to a licensed retailer.
The proposal will now include a measure allowing individuals over the age of 21 to apply for permits authorizing them to home-grow up to four marijuana plants.
“Just as we allow people to homebrew their own beer, we want people to be able to home grow their own marijuana,” Bolander said.
The proposal would prevent those who home grow marijuana from selling to others and the plants would have to be stored inside and be inaccessible to anyone under 21.
Individuals would have to apply for the permit through a seven-member commission appointed by the governor, comprised of specialists like law enforcement officers and physicians.
The proposal is not slated to include any regulations on where people obtain their home-grown marijuana plants.
Another addition to the proposal includes a five percent tax on marijuana purchased from licensed retail stores.
“Combined with a lower tax rate for consumers, these changes will make our communities safer by smothering the black market,” Bolander said in the news release.
The proposal, which previously was pending approval from the Attorney General, now has to begin the process over again.
Bolander said members of the group hope to release the new language for the proposal Wednesday.
After that, they will have to collect 1,000 preliminary signatures before sending the proposal back to the state Attorney General’s office for approval.
Then they will have to collect 3,000 additional signatures, which will then await approval from the Secretary of State.
After the Secretary of State approves the signatures, the measure would appear on the ballot in November.
Bolander said, even after revision, she is optimistic about the group’s chances of getting the proposal on the ballot, and that the new language will likely make it even easier to gain signatures.
“We are going to have the best team working on this proposal… and we have no doubt that we’ll be able to (get it on the ballot),” she said.
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