Ohio activists on Friday submitted a revised petition to put marijuana legalization on the 2022 ballot after the state attorney general had deemed previous summary language misleading. The development comes as some state lawmakers are also pushing a separate plan to legalize cannabis. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA) launched its ballot effort last month. But after turning in a measure with more than the requisite initial 1,000 signatures to trigger a review, the attorney general said he was “unable to certify the proposed summary as fair and truthful.” There were seven parts of the summary that the official identified as problematic, and he concluded that it “does not properly advise a potential signer of a proposed measure’s character and limitations.” So after reviewing the criticisms, activists made fixes and submitted the new language with another batch of signatures. Attorney General Dave Yost’s (R) office now has another 10 days to look over the revised summary language and make a determination as to whether advocates can begin collecting more signatures toward qualifying for the ballot. Ohio voters rejected a 2015 legalization initiative, and advocates suspended a campaign to place another measure on the 2020 ballot due to the coronavirus pandemic. But this round, the campaign is feeling confident that it will prevail once it clears these procedural hurdles.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 08/16/2021 09:28:00