A referendum campaign in Ohio to reverse recently approved changes to the state’s recreational marijuana program took a significant step forward today after AG Dave Yost certified the proposal’s summary language.
The certification allows the advocacy group Ohioans for Cannabis Choice to begin collecting signatures statewide in an attempt to place the issue before voters.
Yost had rejected the group’s initial petition language in January, requiring a revised version to be submitted. In a letter issued Tuesday, he said the updated title and summary are “fair and truthful,” clearing the procedural hurdle needed for the campaign to move forward.
At the same time, Yost emphasized that his certification does not amount to an endorsement of the referendum’s legal footing.
“My certification of the title and summary,” Yost wrote, “should not be construed as an affirmation of the enforceability and constitutionality of the referendum petition.”
The referendum targets Senate Bill 56, which was signed into law in December. The proposal restructures multiple aspects of Ohio’s voter-approved marijuana system, including banning all public consumption of marijuana products, requiring that marijuana possessed in the state be purchased from a licensed Ohio dispensary, tightening transportation and paraphernalia rules, adding new criminal penalties for exceeding home-grow limits, folding intoxicating hemp products into the regulated system, and capping the total number of dispensaries statewide at 400.
With certification now granted, Ohioans for Cannabis Choice can begin its broader signature drive. To qualify for the ballot, the campaign must gather more than 248,000 valid signatures from registered voters across the state. If successful, the referendum would pause implementation of SB 56 and send the issue to voters for a statewide decision.
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