Ohio Constitution News (OCN) is a blog that tracks developments relating to the Ohio Constitution, including Ohio Supreme Court cases, ballot initiatives, state legislation, lectures, and seminars. The blog also reports on new material added to the Ohio Constitution: Law and History website and other items of interest concerning state constitutional law and the Ohio Constitution. Developed by Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus Steven H. Steinglass and maintained by the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library, OCN is not affiliated with the Ohio Supreme Court or with the State of Ohio.
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on Sep 14th, 2015
ResponsibleOhio’s marijuana legalization amendment may run afoul of the Commerce Clause if the marijuana monopoly is enforced to prohibit out-of-state growers from selling marijuana in Ohio. This may be true even the federal government does not legalize marijuana. See Crain’s Cleveland Business. Monopoly on Ohio marijuana market could be cloudy issue
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on Aug 27th, 2015
ResponsibleOhio filed a complaint in mandamus challenging the ballot language of their marijuana legalization initiative petition. View the complaint. View the court docket. The complaint alleges that the ballot adopted by the Ohio Ballot Board violates Article XVI, Section 1 of the Ohio Constitution which requires that ballot language can not deceive, mislead or defraud […]
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on Aug 18th, 2015
Dean Emeritus Steven H. Steinglass opines that if both anti-monopoly and the “marijuana monopoly” amendments to the Ohio Constitution are passed and the anti-monopoly amendment gets more votes, the anti-monopoly amendment will completely wipe out the ResponsibleOhio “marijuana monopoly” amendment because: 1. The Anti-monopoly amendment contains the following language: If, at the general election held […]
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on Aug 13th, 2015
The Ohio Secretary of State verified that ResponsibleOhio obtained sufficient signatures for their marijuana amendment to appear on the ballot this fall. See Cleveland.com, Marijuana legalization amendment approved for Ohio’s November ballot. The proposed amendment would limit the growing of marijuana to ten sites specified in the Ohio Constitution. The ten sites are owned by […]
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on Jul 30th, 2015
The Ohio Attorney General rejected the Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment Initiative Petition because of omissons in the summary language. See Akron News Now: Bad Day For Two Ohio Pot Issues.
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on Jul 16th, 2015
The Ohio Attorney General certified an initiated statute, which would allow for expungement of marijuana offenses, if marijuana becomes legal. See ResponsibleOhio to begin collecting signatures for plan to expunge pot offenses. The initiated statute also provides that if offenders are still subject to sanctions, such as prison, fines, or community control, the offender can […]
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on Jun 19th, 2015
Cleveland.com reports that the consulting firm behind ResponsibleOhio’s initative petition to legalize marijuana and create a monopoly of ten grow sites stands to make 5.6 million dollars from the campaign. The costs include legal work, polling and public relations. The extraordinary costs of getting an amendment to the Ohio Constitution on the ballot has drawn the […]
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on Jun 18th, 2015
House Joint Resolution 4, introduced yesterday, would amend the Ohio Constitution to restrict amendments to the Ohio Constitution that create economic benefits in favor of certain individuals. Initiatives by the General Assembly would not face these restrictions, only initiatives by individuals. An individual or group wanting to amend the Ohio Constitution to create an economic […]
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on Jun 10th, 2015
Better for Ohio stopped the push to get their Legalize Marijuana and Hemp in Ohio Initiative Petition on the 2015 ballot. See Toledo Blade, Marijuana Group Quits Ballot Bid. The group said the cost of getting the necessary signatures by July 1 was prohibitive. Better for Ohio’s amendment allows forty grow-sites to be owned by […]
Posted in Ballot Initiative News on May 22nd, 2015
A third marijuana legalization amendment, called the Cannabis Control Amendment was filed with the Ohio Attorney General by Ohioans to End Prohibition. This third proposal differs from Legalize Marijuana and Hemp in Ohio Initiative Petition (Better for Ohio) and Marijuana Legalization Amendment (ResponsibleOhio) because it does not limit grow-sites to certain named individuals. Under the […]
