Yost rejects marijuana ballot issue

VW independent staff

This week, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office rejected the summary language for a proposed referendum aimed at repealing Senate Bill 56, which authorizes changes to the state’s medical and adult-use marijuana laws.

The Attorney General’s Office received a written petition for the referendum on December 29. Under Ohio law, the Attorney General determines whether a petition’s title and summary are fair and truthful representations of the proposed referendum. According to Attorney General Dave Yost, the summary did not meet the standard.

“Upon review of the summary, we identified omissions and misstatements that, as a whole, would mislead a potential signer as to the scope and effect of S.B. 56,” Yost wrote in a response letter to the petitioners.

Among other things, Senate Bill 56 established a cap of 400 total dispensaries statewide, reduces maximum THC levels in recreational marijuana extracts from 90 to 70 percent, and caps THC levels in recreational flower at 35 percent. It also ended the sale of unregulated, untested intoxicating hemp products outside of licensed dispensaries, and it criminalized the possession and transport of marijuana legally purchased in another state back to Ohio. Senate Bill 56 was signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine in mid-December.

Not long after news of the rejection by Yost’s office, a group called Ohioans for Cannabis Choice issued a statement.

“We’re disappointed, but not surprised or deterred, said Dennis Willard, spokesperson for Ohioans for Cannabis Choice. “Ohio Attorney General David Yost is just a speed bump in the process. We are going to fix the language, collect an additional 1,000 signatures, and not slow down. Voters this November will have the opportunity to say no to SB 56, no to government overreach, no to closing 6,000 businesses and abandoning thousands of Ohio workers, and no to defying the will of Ohioans who overwhelmingly supported legalizing cannabis in 2023,”

The statement also said Ohioans for Cannabis Choice supports proper regulation, testing protocols, age-gating products for those only over 21, proper licensing, and a framework that keeps access while allowing for proper regulation for a successful state model that others will look to follow.