With less than a week before Election Day, both sides of the marijuana legalization issue on the fall ballot defended their positions in a sometimes feisty debate in Columbus Wednesday.
Issue 3 is the constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana by creating 10 official investor-owned growing sites, the possibly of 1100 locally approved retail stores and a system of regulation and taxes.
鈥淭he reason we put it in the constitution is we don鈥檛 trust the legislature 鈥� pure and simple,鈥� said Ian James from ResponsibleOhio, the group pushing Issue 3.
鈥淲hy would you trust the legislature when they鈥檝e failed so epically to deal with this issue? And now they鈥檙e upset because they can鈥檛 get their hands on the money from the issue,鈥� said James.
A broad coalition of more than a hundred health, government and lobbying groups, along with several well-known current and former elected officials, opposes Issue 3.
Democratic Rep. Mike Curtin speaks for Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies, which opposes the investor-driven proposal and the fact that it could be in the constitution.
鈥淭hese guys have formed an amendment to give themselves a monopoly in perpetuity,鈥� Curtin said.
鈥淭hey wrote the rules. They鈥檙e controlling the Marijuana Control Commission, not vice versa.鈥�
Issue 3鈥檚 backers say pot is being bought and sold in Ohio right now, by adults as well as kids, so the only way to control marijuana in Ohio is to fully regulate it, both as a medical and a recreational commodity. Ohio would be the first state to do both with one ballot issue.
But opponents say the investors want to sell pot to as many people as possible, and that if Issue 3 passes, it could be available in every neighborhood in the state. And they note if it passes, the investors who are paying for the campaign and who benefit from it will have set the tax rates, and lawmakers won鈥檛 be able to change it.
But Chris Stock, the attorney who wrote the amendment for ResponsibleOhio, said the 22.5 percent tax rate was set so legal pot can compete with the black market.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have pricing in real time that鈥檚 going to reflect supply and demand and competition,鈥� Stock said.
Curtin countered, saying 鈥淚f these 10 landowners and their co-investors thought they were buying into a plan that would create true competition, they would not have ponied up $40 million to corner the market on this commodity. It鈥檚 that simple.鈥�
And over and over, questions about medical marijuana come up in discussions of Issue 3.
Polls have shown Ohioans overwhelmingly support medical marijuana. And ResponsibleOhio has been talking up the stories of struggling patients and saying that for years, lawmakers have deliberately ignored bills to legalizing medicinal pot.
But Elizabeth Smith with Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies noted a long list of medical professionals oppose Issue 3 on the grounds that marijuana hasn鈥檛 been formally approved as a treatment for any condition, and has been shown to cause health problems.
鈥淭here shouldn鈥檛 be a rush to put this out there as a medicine,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚n fact it will do more harm.鈥�
Ian James shot back.
鈥淥h, my dear God 鈥� there鈥檚 not been a rush. We鈥檝e waited for 19 years for the legislature to do anything on this issue. So to suggest that we鈥檙e rushing is just a complete abdication of fact,鈥� James said.
This debate didn鈥檛 deal with the amendment just above Issue 3 鈥� the so-called anti-monopoly proposal, Issue 2, which would prevent economic monopolies from becoming part of the state constitution.
That issue was put on the ballot by state lawmakers, in an apparent attempt to negate the marijuana legalization plan. One thing both the opponents and supporters do agree on is that if Issue 3 and Issue 2 both pass, a court battle is ahead.
