Ohio Lawmaker Proposes Marijuana Legalization
The public increasingly favors the idea, and Cheetos
As poll numbers show Ohioans are growing increasingly comfortable with the idea of marijuana use, a Youngstown Democrat wants to give people the chance to make the drug fully legal in Ohio. …
One is a bill that would allow patients with certain chronic conditions such as cancer or sickle-cell anemia to use marijuana for treatment. Eighteen other states have approved similar measures.
"In addition to the studies that show marijuana to be a valuable treatment option for chronic pain, nausea and seizure disorders, I have heard countless stories of how cannabis has made a difference in the lives of people who are sick or dying," Hagan said.
His other proposal, modeled after an amendment recently passed in Colorado, would ask voters to approve allowing people 21 or older to purchase and use marijuana. The drug could be sold only by state-licensed establishments and would be subject to a 15 percent excise tax.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
One question in these difficult economic times that doesn't seem to get a lot of attention is the economic benefits that would flow from the legalization of cannabis. Not only would there be a significant new product to tax (think alcohol and cigarette excise), there would also be a drop in policing costs, court costs etc regarding managing the current illegality. So, as well as the many other reasons supporting legalization, we also have an economic reason for legalizing cannabis as well (revenue raising and expenditure saving). Should have bipartisan support!
I've just started a petition to show support for legalization of cannabis so please think about signing up here: http://thelegalizationofcannabis.com/petition-3/