COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol resubmitted their summary language to the Ohio Attorney General’s office on Friday.
The initial summary language was rejected by the Ohio Attorney General earlier this month.
“We appreciate the Attorney General’s feedback on our initial filing, and have fully addressed the issues flagged in this updated filing” said spokesman Tom Haren in a media release. “We look forward to beginning the signature collection process upon approval of our summary language by the Attorney General.”
The proposed law:
- Legalizes and regulates the cultivation, manufacture, testing and sale of marijuana and marijuana products to adults aged 21 and up.
- Legalizes home grow for adults aged 21 or older with a limit of 6 plants per person and 12 plants per household.
Haren believes everyone should support the robust regulatory and taxation system. While regular state and local sales taxes will also apply, included is a 10% cannabis tax rate on adult-use sales that would be allocated as follows:
- 36% of the tax will support social equity and jobs programs – if passed, it is estimated this could generate $150 million or more annually for social equity and jobs programs in Ohio.
- 36% to provide funding for communities who host adult-use cannabis dispensaries – if passed, it is estimated this could generate $150 million or more annually for the communities who have adult-use dispensaries.
- 25% to fund education and treatment for individuals with addiction issues – if passed, this statute could generate $104 million or more annually to research and treat substance abuse in Ohio.
- 3% to the Division of Cannabis Control to fund the regulatory and administrative costs of overseeing the adult use cannabis industry.
The group will need to collect more than 130,000 signatures to formally send the proposed legislation to the Ohio General Assembly, should the Attorney General approve its language. The legislature will then have four months to consider the proposed legislation.
Should they opt not to pass the bill as is, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol can collect an additional 130,000 signatures to present the issue to Ohio voters on the November 2022 ballot, the media release said.