![]() ![]() "I can't believe in Northeast Ohio - an urban area - that you wouldn't see that." "I didn't see these folks anywhere," Wolske said. Also, viewers reported seeing campaigners for and against Issue 1, which will be on the August special election.Įvidently, the coalition was able to get double the signatures they needed without the use of social media or ads, but this raised some questions for people in support and against the marijuana ballot. Viewers reached out to share that they see abortion rights activists all around the state. ![]() News 5 tried to get answers but was never responded to by the campaign. After a News 5 story on May 8, viewers reached out continuously trying to figure out where to sign on. Their website was also left relatively empty. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol had an 8-week campaign with little to no official social media presence. "If you just look at the proportions, the marijuana petition has a bigger percentage cushion than the reproductive freedom proposal has." "The reproductive freedom amendment, that needed over 400,000 signatures - they came in with somewhat over 700,000," Entin said. RELATED: Reproductive rights group delivers over 700,000 petition signatures to Secretary of State They had tables at events, made phone calls and went into neighborhoods to collect signatures. Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights held a robust 12-week campaign where organizers were constantly posting on social media, reaching out to the news, holding information sessions and explaining to Ohioans when and where they could sign up. Because it seeks to amend the state constitution and not just enact a new law, the abortion petition needed significantly more signatures. The marijuana-initiated statute was submitted on the same day as the petition for the abortion constitutional amendment. There were some clear differences between the abortion amendment campaign and the marijuana campaign. "But, to some extent, that's going to depend on how careful the petition circulators were when they talked with folks who signed." "Just as a general proposition, if you have a 50 or 75% cushion - that's probably a decent number to have," Entin said. In this case, supporters turned in about 100,000 more signatures than needed. This is why it's important to get an overabundance. Some law experts warn marijuana enthusiasts may run into more issues than just opponents.Ĭase Western Reserve University constitutional law professor Jonathan Entin explained that signatures can be discounted for a variety of reasons, including if the signer isn't already a registered voter or if they sign a form that doesn't have their specific county on it. "It just doesn't seem like it's a good mix for folks." ![]() "We've done so many crazy things to protect society - now we're going to put another problem out there?" the law enforcement officer asked. The marijuana battle has been a long one, one that Wolske has been fighting against for years. "And unicorns will be back next week too." "Hopefully it puts drug dealers out of business, and everybody goes about happy and only smokes marijuana at home and doesn't drive anywhere after they do it, and they don't leave their gummies and brownies out for the kids to get," Wolske said, sarcastically. Gary Wolske, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio and a retired Garfield Heights lieutenant, was astonished by this argument. "That tax is also low enough that Ohio operators will be able to effectively compete with the illicit market," the spokesperson added. RELATED: Organization pushing for marijuana legalization in Ohio says it gathered enough signatures for November ballot This proposal would also impose a 10% tax at the point of sale for each transaction, which activists say would raise $350 to $400 million in new tax revenue annually. Individual Ohioans would also be able to grow up to six plants, but up to 12 per household. It would legalize and regulate recreational cannabis for adults 21 years of age and older. ![]() "We're very confident that we're going to pass the ballot in November," Haren said. Spokesperson Tom Haren wants voters to choose if Ohio should pass a new law regarding marijuana. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol dropped off more than 222,000 signatures Wednesday to the Ohio Secretary of State's office. COLUMBUS, Ohio - Supporters submitted hundreds of thousands of signatures to let Ohioans choose if recreational marijuana should be legal, but with how easy it is to have petitions thrown away for little mistakes, advocates now have to wait two weeks to see if they make it on the November ballot. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |