Pubdate: Sun, 18 Oct 2015 Source: Dayton Daily News (OH) Copyright: 2015 Dayton Daily News Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/7JXk4H3l Website: http://www.daytondailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/120 Author: Ian James Note: Ian James is the executive director of ResponsibleOhio, the primary organization pressing for passage of Issue 3. OHIO'S OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE HISTORY Issue 3 to Benefit Sick, Shut Down Ohio Drug Dealers. Now is the time to legalize marijuana in Ohio. According to a Quinnipiac poll conducted earlier this month, the majority of Ohioans support legalization. Ninety percent of Ohioans support the legalization of medical marijuana and 53 percent of Ohioans support legalizing marijuana for adult, personal use. Despite such positive public opinion, our state lawmakers have continuously failed to act on marijuana reform for the past 18 years. Since 1997, there has been legislation at the Statehouse to address medical marijuana for the chronically ill. And even as people continue to suffer and 9 out of 10 of us agree on providing compassionate care to sick Ohioans, lawmakers refuse to act. Ohio voters have the chance to make history by voting Yes on Issue 3 this November to create a highly regulated, taxed and safe marijuana industry. Ohioans should vote Yes on Issue 3 to legalize marijuana for medical use and personal use for adults 21 and over, and there are many reasons why. A vote yes on Issue 3 means providing affordable treatments for sick Ohioans at a price everyone can afford. Those suffering with cancer, Alzheimer's, veterans with PTSD, children with epilepsy and so many other Ohioans with chronic illnesses will have the opportunity to find relief. This means that the Ohio families who had to flee our state in search of legal medicine will be able to finally come home. A vote Yes on Issue 3 will also help smother the black market and shut down drug dealers. Dangerous dealers who provide the real gateway to harder drug use. The dealers are those who have the access to hard drugs and they already sell to kids without IDing them. They are selling to kids because they're about cash, not conscience. When Ohioans legalize marijuana by voting Yes on Issue 3, we'll take the power away from dealers to ensure that marijuana stays out of kids' hands. Let's face it, Ohioans know marijuana prohibition and theWar on Drugs have failed. Marijuana is here in our state, and the laws of yesteryear and reefer madness have done little to prevent that. When we bring marijuana out of the shadows, we'll smother the black market. And we'll free up resources for our law enforcement to go after real criminals and fight our state's heroin epidemic. That's to the tune of $100 million every year that we'll be able to reinvest. The new regulated industry brings new annual tax revenue directly back to our local communities. A yes vote on Issue 3 means taxing marijuana and using the $554 million per year in tax revenue for safety services and much-needed infrastructure projects like road and bridge repairs. We estimate that Montgomery County alone, will bring back more than $21 million every year. When Ohioans vote Yes on Issue 3, they will vote for 30,000 new jobs. Between the 10 initial growing sites, six testing facilities, innovation center, manufacturing companies and more than a thousand individual retail stores, the new green industry will create good-paying jobs Ohioans need. And as usual, our state politicians are trying to trick voters by inserting flawed titles and faulty ballot language. What they don't want you to know is that instead of their monopoly, Ohio will get safe and proper regulation of a market with 10 initial growing sites. Many problems have arisen in places like Colorado, where growing is unlimited and terribly regulated. There have beenmultiple instances of unsafe pesticides, insecticides and other contaminants in their marijuana that has led to a consumer lawsuit. ThisWildWest ofWeed is a dangerous system and shouldn't be duplicated in Ohio. If the existing market doesn't suit a consumer, Ohioans will also have the ability to grow at home. So long as an Ohioan is 21 and older, keeps marijuana out of public view and reach of children and obtains a license, he or she can grow at home. To legalize marijuana, voters must also remember to vote No on Issue 2. Issue 2 is a broad overreach by state lawmakers. This dangerous politician-sponsored amendment will give lawmakers more control and voters less control over issues while creating expensive and unnecessary barriers to the ballot. It was crafted and put on the ballot this year to thwart the will of the people. A vote no on Issue 2 shows our lawmakers that we are tired of their games and attempts to silence the people. The advantages of marijuana reform in Ohio are many and the majority of Ohioans agree that we need reform. For Marijuana Legalization: Vote No on Issue 2 and Yes on Issue 3. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom