While recreational marijuana is now legal in Ohio, the state GOP is proposing big changes to the law.

At the stroke of midnight, recreational marijuana became legal in Ohio.

Voters approved last month that adults 21 and older are allowed to use and grow cannabis.

However, Ohio Republicans may be putting the brakes on it.

On Monday, Ohio Senate Republicans proposed banning at-home growing, increasing the substance’s tax rate, and altering how those taxes get distributed.

The ballot measure, dubbed Issue 2, passed on the Nov. 7 election with 57% of the vote - but since it is a citizen’s vote, the legislature is allowed to make tweaks to the law.

  • SCB@lemmy.world
    40·
    1 year ago

    Some bullets to provide more info on this, as an Ohioan who has been following it closely.

    • GOP has gerrymandered the everliving fuck out of Ohio and has a supermajority despite not regularly winning a majority of votes

    • This means the GOP House is only afraid of being primaried

    • One of the worst Senate provisions, in the view of many Ohioans who spoke at hearings, is the move of tax revenue from the local governments where dispensaries are to funds for police and the general fund. The GOP, in violation of state law, has commonly robbed poorer communities of education funding by appropriating it in the general fund and spending it in affluent neighborhoods.

    • GOP House has been fighting the Senate revisions, for reasons that should be immediately obvious, and posting their own (far less severe) restrictions

    • Both groups had to pass a bill by yesterday, 12/7, to provide legislation that supplements the citizen-passed law. If they didnt, weed would be legal but there would be no structures by which businesses could operate, so you’d still have to buy on the black market

    • End result is worse weed, and less weed, and Ohio will probably lose a lot of revenue to Michigan. Voters across the political spectrum have been pretty pissed off about this and I expect it will come up in 2024 elections.

    https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/adults-can-now-legally-possess-and-grow-marijuana-in-ohio-but-theres-nowhere-to-buy-it

    • Chakravanti@sh.itjust.works
      21·
      1 year ago

      Nowhere to buy it? I’d link you to the darknet but I ain’t gonna convince some sucker to do anything but use taxi. Even for that I don’t give a fuck about anything pushing to you educate yourself on doing smart shit like using GNU/Liniux etc. etc.