Ohio: No Opportunity for Voters to Decide on Marijuana Legalization Until 2023

Litigating parties have agreed to a settlement that will postpone any opportunity for voters to decide on a citizens’ initiated marijuana measure until November 2023.

The measure, spearheaded by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, seeks to permit adults to possess, home cultivate, and purchase limited quantities of cannabis. Earlier this year, advocates collected a sufficient number of signatures from registered voters to place the marijuana legalization measure before lawmakers, but they refused to take any action on it. In response, advocates ought to collect additional signatures to place the issue before voters this November. Ohio’s Secretary of State countered that petitioners missed the deadline to qualify for the 2022 ballot.

Commenting on the settlement, Coalition spokesperson Tom Haren said: “The most important thing for us was preserving an opportunity for Ohio voters to decide this issue. We are delighted to have reached this settlement, which has preserved our initial signatures, provided the General Assembly with a second opportunity to consider the proposed statute, and established a clear path to ballot access in 2023. To be certain: we aren’t going anywhere and are undeterred in our goal to legalize cannabis for all adults in Ohio.”

Voters in several states, including Maryland and Missouri, are anticipated to decide on marijuana legalization measures this fall.

A livestream discussion with NORML’s State Policies Manager Jax James on the status of pending 2022 marijuana legalization initiatives is available here.