Ohio A-G certifies 2nd marijuana petition

VW independent/submitted information

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has certified the petition for a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that would legalize marijuana for medicinal and industrial use in the state.

On March 28, the Attorney General’s Office received a written petition to amend the Ohio Constitution titled “Medicinal Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Amendment.” The petition was certified on Thursday as containing both the necessary 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters and a “fair and truthful” summary of the proposed amendment.

“Without passing upon the advisability of the approval or rejection of the measure to be referred, but pursuant to the duties imposed upon the Attorney General’s Office […] I hereby certify that the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed law,” Attorney General DeWine stated in the certification letter.

Once the summary language and initial signatures are certified, the Ohio Ballot Board must determine if the amendment contains a single issue or multiple issues. The petitioners must then collect signatures for each issue from registered voters in each of 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, equal to 5 percent of the total vote cast in the county for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.

Total signatures collected statewide must also equal 10 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.

The full text of Thursday’s letter and the amendment petition submitted can be found at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/Petitions.