Ohio Auditor David Yost presented a proposal to the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission’s Revisions and Updating Committee to prohibit initiative petitions (proposals to amend the Ohio Constitution) that confer a benefit only to an individual or group of individuals. The proposal is a response to marijuana initiative petitions, namely, ResponsibleOhio’s initiative and Better for Ohio ‘s initiative, which would allow marijuana growing only at certain sites owned by campaign investors. It is also a reaction to the casino constitutional amendment, which established four designated casinos in Ohio.
Yost aims to have his proposal passed as a initiative by the General Assembly. In order to be on the November ballot, the proposal must be passed by 3/5 of the General Assembly before they leave for summer break at the end of June. If the “no special interests” proposal makes it to the ballot in November and is passed by voters, it could stop specific-grow site marijuana proposals from going into effect, even if those are passed by voters too.
See Cleveland.com, Auditor Dave Yost seeks constitutional amendment that would block marijuana ballot issues, which includes the language of David Yost’s proposal.
