New Marijuana Legalization Effort in Ohio?

Did you miss the webinar “Women Leaders in Cannabis: Shattering the Grass Ceiling?” Head to MJBiz YouTube to watch it now!


Just a few months after a marijuana legalization ballot measure failed miserably in Ohio, it now seems as though there’s competition for who’s going to lead the next charge.

The Marijuana Policy Project and a new bipartisan team of political power players in the state are vying for pole position to lead a medical cannabis legalization campaign, while the former leaders of ResponsibleOhio are trying to get the legislature to legalize MMJ.

The newcomers, a group known as ARC Reaction, have put out a 22-page proposal detailing how the organization can help legalization supporters put a ballot measure to voters in November, according to the Dayton Daily News.

The group includes Democrat Aaron Pickrell, a senior policy advisor to former governor Ted Strickland; Republican Mike Hartley, a staffer in the administration of former Ohio governor and now White House candidate John Kasich; and Democrat Steven Stenberg, a political strategist in Washington DC.

But big bucks will be required. The group wants investors to pay up to $300,000 by Feb. 15 so it can start researching the endeavor, and another $1.5 million by March 1 as well as $3.5 million more by April 1 to collect the 305,000 voter signatures required by early July to get on the November ballot.