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Attorney General Mike DeWine
DeWine rejects
Medical Marijuana Amendment
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today rejected the
petition for a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution which would
attempt to legalize marijuana for medical use in the state.
On March 3rd, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office received a written
petition to amend the Ohio Constitution, entitled “Medical Use of
Marijuana” from the group Ohioans for Medical Marijuana. 1,000 valid
signatures from registered Ohio voters were submitted. However,
Attorney General DeWine found at least three defects with the summary
language:
The summary language states "no more than fifteen type 1 medical
marijuana cultivation facility licenses" shall be issued. However, the
proposed amendment contains provisions for issuing additional licenses.
The summary language states that the amendment may not be construed to
prevent a person from being penalized for "operating a motor vehicle,
aircraft, train, or motorboat while impaired by marijuana[.]” However,
the proposed amendment contains language which states qualifying
patients “shall not be considered to be impaired by marijuana or
marijuana products solely because of the presence of metabolites or
components of marijuana that appear in insufficient concentration to
cause impairment[.]”
The summary language states there shall be additional ways to obtain
valid registry identification card under certain conditions after July
1, 2017. However, the proposed amendment lists that date as August 1,
2017.
“For these reasons, I am unable to certify the summary as a fair and
truthful statement of the proposed amendment,” DeWine stated in a
letter to the petitioners.
The full text of today’s letter and of the amendment petitions
submitted can be found at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/BallotInitiatives.
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