Marijuana Ballot Group Backs Down

06/03/2016

In what is a major victory for Ohio businesses, last weekend the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) announced it was suspending its medical marijuana ballot initiative campaign in Ohio. Had the campaign been successful, the constitutional amendment would have allowed the use of medical marijuana in Ohio without taking into consideration business interests or worker safety. MPP cited House Bill 523, spearheaded by the legislature and supported widely by interested parties including Ohio manufacturers, as the reason for suspending the ballot campaign. With a large majority of Ohioans in favor of medical marijuana, the legislature made a reasonable decision to legalize medical marijuana under specific conditions while protecting employer rights and workplace drug rules. MPP conceded the bill was better than it could have imagined and that raising money in light of the bill’s passage was harder than predicted. Keeping medical marijuana law out of the constitution gives Ohio manufacturers the opportunity to continue to improve and mold the law to ensure workplace safety does not suffer.

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