First, I want to make it clear that my view is that individuals have a natural right to cultivate and make use of the plants they choose. A natural right cannot be licensed as that means it is not a "right".
This would seem to be *perfection in cannabis freedom* and while such is a worthy goal, practicality intrudes to tell us that that is unattainable in the short term.
Considering the verbiage on home growing I believe informed voters would have a hard time passing this proposal. OTEP and/or LegalizeOhio needs to speak louder our find ways to be a stronger presence. You only hear about RO! Time is running out for Ohioans.....
I agree the implementation of Issue 3 is an unknown.
I read the LegalizeOhio page you linked to and there are valid concerns, though it made no mention of this from Section I of the amendment:
Regulatory rules shall not prohibit the operation of marijuana establishments or home growing, either expressly or through regulations that make their operation unreasonably impracticable.
On its face this would appear to alleviate at least some if not all concerns, though the devil is always in the details, especially when dealing with governments.
Even if the dire predictions prove true and ResponsibleOhio’s homegrow turns out to suck big time, I will be content to purchase ResponsibleOhio commercial weed at the local cannabis shop-assuming a better deal than the underground black market offers at that time-until such time that homegrow is provided for.
On the LegalizeOhio page there is a characterization of Ohio Governor Kasich as “not a friend to marijuana”. While Kasich has been making comments in opposition to RE-legalization of cannabis, it should be remembered that he took steps so that Ohio could opt out of the DOT regulations calling for driver’s license suspensions of offenders of marijuana laws, and it’s certainly not his fault that the Ohio House and Senate have refused to do their part in order to complete the task. Governor Kasich supported defanging the harsh paraphernalia penalties as well as ending the firearms disability for low-level marijuana offenders which has been a common sense relief for Ohioans.
Observing these critical cannabis reforms carried out by Kasich makes his anti-marijuana stance inexplicable…how does he square accepting that cannabis folks can be responsible firearms owners, and should not face harsh penalties for possessing a smoking appliance, but still must endure cannabis prohibition? Only with bizarro-world logic...
Politicians twist in the wind and the cannabis wind is blowing ever harder. Latest polls show Ohioans at 56% support of general RE-legalizing and over 90% favoring therapeutic/medicinal cannabis, so watch for some ‘evolution’ on Kasich’s part-it’s where the votes of the future are…
Let us boil this down to the true harsh reality: without proper funding (that means millions of dollars) any and all ballot initiative prospects seeking some form of cannabis RE-legalization are almost assuredly doomed to failure, otherwise NORML or ORG or somebody would have at this point achieved *something*, but we have exactly zilch to show for all efforts at reforming cannabis prohibition so far…except the solitary example that was cash-rich, which of course is ResponsibleOhio (RO).
I remember my own initial negative reaction to RO, which didn’t last long as I came to realize the importance funding plays in the process…money-lot’s of it…is essential.
And let’s face it, the folks that ponied up tens of millions of dollars want a return on their investment, just as any of us would expect from making an investment.
Do I want *perfection in cannabis freedom* for Ohio (and the world)?
You bet I do.
Do I want to wait what might be a Rip-Van-Winkle sort of wait for that perfection to happen, while in the meantime the status quo of cannabis prohibition carries on, disrupting and ruining lives, wasting tax dollars and foregoing tax revenues?
In a word…NO.
Despite the fact that RO is not close to perfection, it is an undeniable step forward. I hope many fellow Ohioans join me in voting
NO on Issue 2 in order to preserve our right to alter our form of government, and voting
YES on Issue 3 in order to provide the basis of the goal of RE-legalization.
Does anyone really think making adjustments and alterations to RO after its approval by voters will be more difficult than pushing through a different ballot measure without lots of money-which appears unlikely-underlying the effort?
If RO fails November 3 Ohio can expect to wait a good three to five years at minimum for something to happen in Ohio…assuming no effort is heavily funded.
The question for the cannabis community in regard to ResponsibleOhio Issue 3 would seem to be:
Does Issue 3 offer a better alternative to Ohio’s status quo of cannabis prohibition?
As an either/or how can people-especially cannabis people-decide to accept perfect prohibition over imperfect RE-legalization???