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    Legalization Effort Proposes New Amendment for 2016 Ballot

    Originating from a rift within Legalize Ohio 2016, two marijuana legalization advocacy groups have added new members.

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    Grassroots Ohio, joined by some members from Legalize Ohio 2016, attempts to separate itself from other current discourse surrounding the legalization issue. Other members of LO16 have redirected their energy toward the group Ohioans for Medical Marijuana (OMM), a state branch of the national legalization effort, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

    OMM announced in February their effort to establish an amendment legalizing medical marijuana. This measure would allow for cannabis treatment only in severely debilitating ailments such as cancer, HIV and Hepatitis C, making it accessible to a little more than two percent of the population.

    Following last year’s overwhelming defeat of Issue 3 — the measure that would have established an oligopoly in the weed market — Grassroots Ohio’s proposed amendment is one page of basic rights that would be granted to Ohioans including, among others listed, the right to “possess, process, transport, use, share, and cultivate cannabis, commonly referred to as marijuana, marihuana, or hemp, for medicinal purposes.”

    Cassie Young, President of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy group at OSU and Engagement Coordinator for Grassroots Ohio, said the key point here is using the term “medicinal” rather than “medical,” which opens up a broader range of ailments that would qualify for treatment by marijuana.

    Language in the amendment guarantees easy access to the free market by entrepreneurs, growers and producers, and also establishes protection for employees and those who are tested for being under the influence of marijuana, ruling out any measurement of body chemistry as acceptable evidence, and instead using scientific evidence of impairment.

    “Being under the influence would not be determined solely by the presence of active or inactive metabolites of cannabis in an eligible resident’s urine, blood, tissue hair or skin, or as detectable by other measures of body chemistry,” according to the amendment.

    Young said recent measures, including the statute that legalized gambling in Ohio and the effort to legalize marijuana last year, have tried to insert too many rules and regulations into the state constitution, a document she said should be primarily reserved for housing the rights of Ohioans.

    “We don’t intend for there to be and we’re certainly not writing the constitution that there would be a system by which patients have to register and carry a card, because with other medications that isn’t the case,” she said.

    Instead individuals would consult with their physicians to decide if medicinal cannabis would be an appropriate and effective treatment. Any sort of card-holding policy, like that which is laid out in OMM’s proposed amendment, would put Ohio behind the rest of the states where weed policy already exists and is liberalizing, said Young.

    Ultimately the weed movement is working toward the complete legalization on both the supply and demand sides. Young said the focus of marijuana discourse is rapidly shifting as more voices enter the discussion and general public perception of the drug changes.

    “It has become apparent that the conversation is shifting from ‘should prohibition end?’ to ‘which decriminalization/legalization models will promote harm reduction, health, and safety?’ Young said. “Activists like myself believe we need to hold steadfast to the drug policy reform movement’s traditional focus on social and economic justice in order to ensure the new marijuana industry does not turn into another ‘Big – Tobacco/Alcohol/Pharma.’”

    Update: 3/10 2:20pm — Article edited for clarification on the origin of Grassroots Ohio.

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    Lauren Sega
    Lauren Segahttps://columbusunderground.com
    Lauren Sega is the former Associate Editor for Columbus Underground and a current freelance writer for CU. She covers political issues on the local and state levels, as well as local food and restaurant news. She grew up near Cleveland, graduated from Ohio University's Scripps School of Journalism, and loves running, traveling and hiking.
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