An Ohio coalition’s push to legalize adult-use cannabis got the wind knocked out of it Thursday. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost ruled that the summary of a 45-page initiative petition was not a “fair and truthful statement of the proposed law,” essentially grounding the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol’s push to collect the necessary signatures to put its petition before the Ohio Legislature. The Ohio Supreme Court has defined “summary” relative to an initiated petition as “a short, concise summing up,” which properly advises potential signers of a proposed measure’s character without the necessity of pursuing it at length. “Having reviewed the submission, I am unable to certify the proposed summary as a fair and truthful summing up of the proposed chapter,” Yost said in his written decision. The initiative petition, “An Act to Control and Regulate Adult-Use Cannabis,” does not seek to enact a single law, rather, it seeks to add an entire chapter to the Ohio Revised Code, according to Yost, who said his only obligation is to determine whether the submitted summary is fair and truthful.Overall, Yost’s office identified seven items in the 45-page petition that were omitted from the summary, which was outlined in the written decision.
Posted Melissa Schiller, Cannabis Business Times, 08/05/2021 22:36:00