Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment Rejected by Attorney General

The Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment (OMCA), which was submitted to Attorney General Mike DeWine, was rejected on Friday, September 16. This amendment would allow certified patients with diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and fibromyalgia to use medical marijuana to ease their symptoms. It would also allow for the creation of dispensaries and other medical marijuana businesses, and would create a new government department to regulate and control the medical marijuana industry.

In order to become law, petitioners must first gather 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters. Next the signatures are submitted to the Attorney General along with the full amendment and a brief summary. Once the Attorney General certifies a petition, the political action committee (PAC) representing the OMCA must gather 345,000 valid signatures to put the amendment on the November 2012 Ohio ballot. The PAC turned in 2,365 signatures and county ballot boards verified 1,344 of them (well over the 1,000 required for a ballot petition). However, the language of the summary and the amendment did not meet the criteria necessary to certify the OMCA for petitioning.

The attorney general is charged with analyzing the full text of the OMCA and verifying that the summary included with the petition is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment. This process ensures that Ohioans understand what they are voting on and how the amendment will change the law. After reviewing the submitted petition the attorney general decided that the summary did not meet the “fair and truthful” requirement. He cited specific sections of the amendment which were not included in the summary and also found discrepancies between the summary and the full text of the amendment.

Despite the rejection, the response from the Attorney General puts the OMCA one step closer to getting on the November 2012 ballot. The PAC can now revise their summary and correct the discrepancies so that it more accurately reflects the full content of the amendment. They will then have to gather another 1,000 valid signatures and resubmit their petition for the attorney general’s approval.


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