DeMora Outraged at Efforts to Undermine Voter Approval of Adult-Use Cannabis

Today, state Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) spoke out against recently proposed Republican changes to State Issue 2, the voter-approved initiated statute to legalize adult-use recreational cannabis. 

“Voters spent months educating themselves and making a decision on whether they wanted adult-use marijuana in Ohio,” said DeMora. “The drafters were able to use other states as a guide to what works and doesn’t work. The language may be tweaked, but to upend the will of the voters is unconscionable. Removing home grow and increasing taxes to a level that will only increase the illicit market or send Ohioans to the state up north is not good policy and pokes voters right in the eye.”

Issue 2 passed with 57% voter approval and is set to go into effect on December 7. The original language would legalize adult-use recreational marijuana, create a home grow program, establish dispensaries, and create a tax on cannabis products. 

The changes to Issue 2 have been proposed in a substitute version of House Bill 86, which is currently being heard in the Senate General Government Committee.

The proposed changes would ban home grow, allow municipalities to ban the opening of dispensaries, significantly increase taxes, remove money from the substance abuse and addiction fund, lower potency, and ban public and outdoor use.