Ohio to have recreational marijuana legalization referendum in 2015

[The Mikado]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/12/ohio-vote-legalizing-marijuana/31558749/

My expectation is that this fails because they put it on the ballot in an off off year and the only people who vote in odd years are the retired and cranks. Someone in Ohio really missed a trick in putting it in 2015 and not 2016, when it'd benefit from Presidential year turnout.

Thoughts? Your take? Will Ohio become the 6th state to legalize marijuana?

[PJ]

How dumb. They won't even achieve pathetic midterm turnout. Kudos to the group pushing for this, but still, incredibly poor strategy.

[ElectionsGuy]

Good. I don't have high hopes though because of the olds that will inevitably turn out will outnumber the younger folks. Can they still do it in 2016 if it fails?

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

This is a very ...  peculiar referendum, and not one that I would immediately favour. Basically it legally caps the amount of marijuana farms to just ten wealthy investors. Because of this, a lot of people are calling this that old canard "crony capitalist".

[Marokai Backbeat]

This is a very ...  peculiar referendum, and not one that I would immediately favour. Basically it legally caps the amount of marijuana farms to just ten wealthy investors. Because of this, a lot of people are calling this that old canard "crony capitalist".

Yeah I don't really like this for this exact reason. I would much prefer something along the line of Colorado than this stuff.

[Adam Griffin]

On the other hand, does OH have any elections (municipal, for example) regularly scheduled in the off-off years? There's a tendency for referendum elections - when they're the only thing on the ballot - to go the way of the originating side since more people tend to come out to support the measure being proposed than do to oppose it. Of course, there will still be a lot of old cranks showing up, as has already been mentioned.

[Cory]

How dumb. They won't even achieve pathetic midterm turnout. Kudos to the group pushing for this, but still, incredibly poor strategy.

[The Mikado]

This is a very ...  peculiar referendum, and not one that I would immediately favour. Basically it legally caps the amount of marijuana farms to just ten wealthy investors. Because of this, a lot of people are calling this that old canard "crony capitalist".

Yeah I don't really like this for this exact reason. I would much prefer something along the line of Colorado than this stuff.

I tend to agree with you here, although there's the element that if this passes, fixing the state-sponsored marijuana monopoly (Yes, I know monopoly isn't the right word because there's ten companies, not one, but they'd probably form some sort of cartel and start price-fixing) would be easier to do at a later date.

How would the Ohio law affect home-growers? The article mentioned that it'd ban other commercial growers besides the big 10, but I'm not sure if that also bans people who grow small amounts for personal use.

[TJ in Oregon]

On the other hand, does OH have any elections (municipal, for example) regularly scheduled in the off-off years? There's a tendency for referendum elections - when they're the only thing on the ballot - to go the way of the originating side since more people tend to come out to support the measure being proposed than do to oppose it. Of course, there will still be a lot of old cranks showing up, as has already been mentioned.

Ohio has the majority of its local elections in odd year Novembers. The people turning out will most likely be motivated by school board elections and school levies. Those are generally the most divisive things on the ballot in odd years.