In 2009 a consortium that wanted to build four casinos in Ohio put together a successful election campaign that persuaded the voters to amend the state constitution.
In 2015 a consortium that wants to legalize marijuana in the Buckeye State is taking lessons from that successful campaign and applying them to efforts to persuade voters to decriminalize pot.
The group wants to legalize the narcotic for medical and person use. This isn’t the first time that such efforts have begun, only to fizzle when signature gatherers hit the streets.
One such effort is currently alive. Called ResponsibleOhio, it has until July to gather 305,591 signatures (10 percent of those who cast ballots in the last general election) to qualify for the November ballot and join the 23 states that have so far legalized pot in some way.
One way that the group is imitating the 2009 casino effort is by identifying specific regions where marijuana can be grown for medical and recreational use. The gaming campaign identified four cities where gaming would be allowed, and limited it to one casino per city.
Like the casino issue, this one is seen as non-partisan, with supporters and foes from both parties, although it is expected that business and law enforcement will oppose it.
Similarly to the casino initiative, the funding for ResponsibleOhio is expected to come from investors who will expect to be able to profit if marijuana becomes legal.
And, like the casino initiative, the sweetener for local and municipal government is that proceeds from taxes on marijuana will be directed to help fund government services.
Under the proposal pot would be treated similarly to alcohol, with the legal age limit being 21. Local communities would be able to determine if cannabis retail operations would be allowed.
The initiative starts with a huge advantage. A recent Quinnipiac poll indicated that 87 percent of the voters support medicinal pot smoking. However, that support deflates rapidly when the notion of carrying the narcotic around and smoking it for fun is included.
