CLEVELAND — The clock is ticking before Issue 2 takes effect next week on December 7, and Ohio Republican lawmakers are scrambling to find consensus on changes to the law created by the ballot measure that passed in the November 7 election with 57-percent of the vote.
House Bill 341, sponsored by Rep. Gary Click, (R-Vickery), was introduced on Tuesday. It would make several revisions to the recreational marijuana law, including allowing municipalities to ban marijuana dispensaries and the home growing of cannabis plants, both of which were protected by Issue 2.
Under the ballot measure, revenue from a 10-percent tax on marijuana sales will go toward social equity and substance abuse programs, municipalities with dispensaries, and administrative costs.
HB 341 would create an additional revenue category to fund law enforcement training.
Should applicants previously convicted of marijuana crimes have priority?
Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, (R-Lima), has expressed his desire to enact some changes to Issue 2 before it takes effect, rather than taking something away from constituents.
Huffman signaled a potential change to a provision in Issue 2 intended to address racial and ethnic differences in dispensary licensure.
"Did the voters, for example, know that there was going to be preferences to licenses to people who have been formally convicted for selling drugs illegally?" said Huffman during a recent "President's Podcast."
"Probably not very many people thought of that," he added.
Organizers behind Issue 2 included a similar provision found in other states which have legalized recreational marijuana, that awards licenses to economically or socially disadvantaged applicants.
According to the new law, social disadvantage can be based on "the owner or owners, or their spouse, child, or parent, have been arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent for a marijuana-related offense as determined by rule by the department of development prior to the effective date of this section."
One study found that black cannabis entrepreneurs make up less than 2-percent of the nation's marijuana businesses.
"There's a long history of people being prosecuted for marijuana crimes in this country and it disproportionately affects minorities. That's the reality of it," said Kevin Murphy, managing partner of the Cleveland law firm, Walter Haverfield. Murphy also serves as a legal consultant for the marijuana industry.
"There are a lot of people of color who are locked up in prison because of a marijuana violation," said Murphy. "And historically, if you've had felony or misdemeanor you were precluded from having a license. The prevailing thought was, marijuana is legal now, and you have these people who were convicted of a crime when it was illegal. But now it's legal, so shouldn't they be allowed to participate? That was the intent of the law," Murphy explained.
However, New York state, which legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, has seen its program stalled, because of legal challenges to its policy of offering the first dispensary licenses only to those with previous marijuana-related convictions. A settlement of the lawsuit from a group of veterans who claimed to have equal social disadvantages was announced on Tuesday.
Murphy expects the state will turn to a lottery system for applicants, similar to the state's medical marijuana application process, in order to avoid litigation.
He also anticipates lawmakers will lower the limits to THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes you high.
Currently the law has limits of 35-percent for plant material and 90-percent for extracts. The language in the law is also expected to be clarified, after confusion over the terms "no less than" 35-percent for plant material and "no less than" 90-percent for extracts.
Murphy concedes the language should instead be "no more than," to reflect the law's intent for the threshold to be a ceiling, and not a minimum for THC levels.
Republican lawmakers hope to introduce measures to revise the adult-use cannabis law on the House floor by December 6.