Ohio nips legal marijuana in the bud

Ohio voters strongly rejected a measure Tuesday that would have legalized medicinal and recreational marijuana use. Though recent polls predicted a tight vote, the off-year ballot proposal lost in all 88 counties with only 35 percent of the vote, according to numbers available late Tuesday night.

The hotly debated ballot initiative was the first measure in the country to attempt to legalize both medicinal and recreational marijuana at the same time. The proposed constitutional amendment, known as Issue 3, would have legalized the sale, consumption, and growth of certain amounts of marijuana by adults 21 and older, and the medicinal use for all residents with qualifying medical conditions.

It was also the first proposed initiative in the country backed and funded by a small group of investors with a big dog in the fight. The amendment limited the growth and cultivation of commercial marijuana to 10 pre-determined Ohio farms, meaning all commercial sellers would have to buy from one of those designated growing sites. The owners of those 10 farms, including pop star Nick Lachey and NBA star Oscar Robertson, comprised the core group of investors in ResponsibleOhio, the lobby group organized to pass Issue 3. About two-dozen investors funded the campaign, with $12 million spent and another $12 million raised last quarter, according to campaign reporting. Organizers told potential investors legalized marijuana would bring in a projected $1 billion in annual sales.

But an odd grouping of opponents, including law enforcement officials, state lawmakers, and pot-loving hippies, argued the deal created a marijuana monopoly.

“Issue 3 was nothing more and nothing less than a business plan to seize control of the recreational marijuana market in Ohio,” said Curt Steiner, campaign director for Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies. “Issue 3 was designed and built primarily to garner massive and exclusive profits for a small group of self-selected wealthy investors.”

Fairfield, Ohio, resident Marty Dvorchak, 62, wants to see marijuana legalized, but not this way.

“I can’t believe I voted ‘no’ when it was finally on the ballot,” she said. “I think it’s ridiculous that marijuana is illegal. The war on drugs has been a failure. But I don’t think 10 people should have a monopoly.”

Anticipating the possible passage of Issue 3, Ohio lawmakers opposing the legalization campaign added a safeguard to Tuesday’s ballot. A second initiative, known as Issue 2, passed by a narrow margin, effectively nullifying Issue 3 by prohibiting constitutional amendments establishing economic monopolies. Issue 2 supporters hoped the measure, which did not mention marijuana, would pass easily on the promise of stopping monopolies, something most voters agree is bad for any business. If both Issue 2 and Issue 3 had passed Tuesday, observers predicted the matter would head to the courts for a long legal battle.

Had the marijuana measure passed, Ohio would have become the fifth, largest, and most conservative state to legalize recreational pot use, following Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. Almost half of U.S. states now allow medicinal marijuana. More than half a dozen other states are expected to vote on marijuana legalization in 2016.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.