Over the years, people have been taught that marijuana was an evil drug. This drug is so evil that approximately 750,000 people are arrested every year and some of them convicted and fined for its use in the United States. So evil that every 42 seconds someone gets arrested for it.

America is so convinced of marijuana's evils, that we are willing to root out this drug wherever it is used, bought, and sold, right?

Wrong.

in our nation's capital, before legalization, 91 percent of arrested marijuana dealers were African-American. What about the other 9 percent? Well, before Washington voters legalized its use, only 4 percent of Washington, D.C.'s arrested marijuana dealers were Caucasian.

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The House just passed a medical marijuana measure and an initiative will likely be on the ballot in November. While I believe marijuana should be legalized, this initiative and the legislation being considered by the Senate should be rejected since people who don't use marijuana will be forced to pay taxes to support a state commission the law creates. We already have too many bureaucrats in Columbus to support. Too often politicians create high-paying jobs for their friends, at taxpayers' expense, by creating new state agencies when we urgently need to prune the bloated state government.

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As it nears a potential vote next week on medical marijuana, the Senate today made a number of bill changes, including those that seek to speed up the implementation and give Ohioans immediate access to the drug.

A chief complaint of the House-passed bill among medical marijuana proponents was Ohioans would have to wait for up to two years before getting access to the drug while regulations, farms and distributors were established.

The latest version of the bill, accepted in Senate committee on Wednesday, allows patients to obtain medical marijuana from out of state via prescription in forms legal under the bill, before the system is fully established in Ohio.

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Because the people of Ohio will support the medical marijuana bill, I hope they are ready to build more rehabilitation facilities when more people turn to heroin. When you ask these people who use heroin, they tell you they got started with marijuana.

Now they say it is only for medicinal purposes, but everybody knows people will be using it for recreational purposes, and more people will be dying from heroin. And we will still be losing the battle.

So people of Ohio, if you vote for marijuana, you will find a lot of room at the cemeteries.

Perrysburg

[end]

With a proposed constitutional amendment on the horizon, the House voted 71-26 on Tuesday to potentially make Ohio the 26th state to give residents legal access to medical marijuana.

Some members expressed reluctance about the bill - a vote on which would have been near unfathomable just a few years ago - but after hearing of the drug's benefits and facing the prospect of a less-restrictive constitutional amendment on the November ballot, the bill was sent to the Senate. Hearings will start this morning.

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COLUMBUS - In the biggest shift in state drug policy in decades, the Ohio House voted 71-26 on Tuesday to legalize marijuana for medical use only.

The bill heads to the Senate, where hearings will begin today. Republican House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger voiced confidence that a bill could reach Gov. John Kasich's desk before the General Assembly recesses for the summer before Memorial Day.

Kasich spokesman Joe Andrews said the governor has not committed to signing this bill, but would sign one if it "is written properly and there is a need for it."

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Detective Discusses Epidemic During Senior Coffee Hour

Waging a war on drugs in Lorain County hasn't been an easy task and there's still plenty of work to be done, according to Detective Gregg Mehling with the Lorain County Sheriff's Office Drug Task Force.

Mehling visited the Lorain Public Library System's Columbia Branch, 13824 W. River Road North in Columbia Station, on May 9 for the monthly Senior Coffee Hour to talk about the growing heroin problem in the county and what he considers to be a tremendous health emergency.

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You might not like President Barack Obama's political philosophy or leadership style, but you have to admit that he is one cool president.

If you're unconvinced, consider his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 30. His poise and charm were on full display, and his comedic timing was impeccable.

Still, his best joke made me cringe a little: He said that his popularity rating had been rising. In fact, he said, "The last time I was this high, I was trying to decide on my major."

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Society Goes From Racist Approach to Empathy.

The Rev. Mike Starks witnessed the destruction of crack cocaine, but not from the sidelines - he was a self-described gangster and drug addict before he became a minister.

The Akron community activist recalls authorities responding to the epidemic, which is said to have lasted from 1984 to the early 1990s, with the all-out War on Drugs. Lawmakers enacted mandatory prison sentences for dealers. Stories in the media blamed addicts for their choices and told of gang-ravaged inner cities.

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It looks as if legalization of medical marijuana will come this year, either through pending legislation or through two possible ballot issues to amend the Ohio Constitution. But the Ohio House is larding its bill with unpopular restrictions instead of crafting a plainly worded compromise sufficient to kill the more-extreme ballot issues.

Many proponents of medical marijuana insist that smoking be one of the ways it can be used. But, unlike both ballot issues, House Bill 523 would require those with a marijuana prescription to use vaporization or other devices if they wish to inhale. The bill also would prohibit home-grown marijuana, which the ballot issues would allow in limited quantities.

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WAVERLY, Ohio - Sure, some people grow marijuana in Pike County.

And, yes, some people nurture the tender plants near clearings where the sunshine will hit them and where a water source - generally the Scioto River or one of its feeder creeks - is readily available.

Increasingly often, though, people are moving their operations indoors, adding grow lights and irrigation to keep it all under roof, hidden from nosy neighbors and men and women with badges.

This is not just a Pike County problem. Growing marijuana as a cash crop isn't uncommon in Appalachian communities, where the land is fertile and the opportunity to make money doing something else often isn't.

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The Ohio House could make history Tuesday by approving legislation to legalize medical marijuana.

While state lawmakers have considered marijuana legislation in the past, no proposal has ever made it out of committee and to the full House for a vote.

House Bill 523 was approved by a special committee Thursday faster than you can say "tetrahydrocannabinol," the chemical in marijuana that produces the "high" when smoking or ingesting it. It also provides pain relief, soothes seizures and increases appetite. There were two minor amendments and no discussion.

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Ohioans could not legally smoke medical marijuana under a revamped proposal being rolled out today by state legislators.

Those with a prescription for medical marijuana would be allowed to use vaporization or other inhalant devices.

But the new restriction in the legislation, targeted for a House vote Tuesday, probably sets up a public battle with supporters of proposed November ballot issues that would allow smoking.

Rep. Kirk Schuring of Canton, who was set to brief his fellow GOP House members Tuesday night on the revised measure, said he hopes the special committee he chairs approves the new plan Thursday after seeing it for the first time today. After House passage, Schuring said, he is optimistic the Senate and Kasich administration will quickly approve Ohio becoming the 25th state to legalize medical marijuana.

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Q What should I know about driving and using marijuana in Ohio?

A Ohio law prohibits four acts related to marijuana ingestion and vehicle operation. First, the law prohibits you from operating a vehicle while under the influence of marijuana. Second, the law prohibits you from operating a vehicle if you have a certain concentration of marijuana in your blood (2 nanograms or more per milliliter) or urine (10 nanograms or more per milliliter). Third, the law prohibits you from operating a vehicle with a certain concentration of marijuana metabolite in your blood (50 nanograms or more per milliliter) or urine (35 nanograms or more per milliliter). Fourth, the law prohibits you from operating a vehicle while under the influence of marijuana and while having a certain concentration of marijuana metabolite in your blood (5 nanograms or more per milliliter) or urine (15 nanograms or more per milliliter).

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More than a token, but something short of tokin': That's the Ohio General Assembly's task in trying to craft a bill legalizing Ohioans' use of medical marijuana.

The science may or may not be there, at least not entirely. But what looks like a public consensus seems to be. And that consensus is that marijuana's chemical components can help Ohioans fighting certain illnesses or enduring, say, chemotherapy.

Pending in a House committee is House Bill 523, a bipartisan medical marijuana plan sponsored by Reps. Stephen Huffman of Tipp City and Kirk Schuring of Canton, both Republicans, and Dan Ramos, a Lorain Democrat. Huffman's a physician. He earned his medical degree at the Medical College of Ohio (now the University of Toledo's College of Medicine and Life Sciences). Among those praising the House for taking up the medical marijuana issue: Sen. Kenny Yuko, a Richmond Heights Democrat, a longtime proponent of medical marijuana.

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Patients, Caregivers Say Pending Ohio Bill Has Numerous Flaws.

Even if Ohio lawmakers act swiftly on pending legislation to legalize pot as medicine, Ohioans for Medical Marijuana leaders on Wednesday said they'll keep pushing to put a constitutional amendment before voters this fall.

Patients and caregivers said that the bill pending in the Ohio House doesn't go far enough to protect them against losing jobs, will take too long to implement, prohibits home grow and fails to provide a concrete list of ailments that would qualify someone to get medical marijuana.

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One way or another, it appears Ohioans who need it will have marijuana in their medicine cabinet. The only questions may be how soon and by whose rules.

A bill introduced this week in the Legislature would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana edibles, patches, plant material and oils, but doesn't allow for the smokable form.

It also prohibits patients from growing their own...

If approved, many of the rules governing distribution, including who can grow it, would be left to a new state commission. Rules would be created within one year to regulate pot farms, dispensaries, laboratories, processors, and physicians.

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Columbus -- Republican House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger said he wasn't stalling on consideration of medical marijuana when his chamber launched a task force and a series of public hearings on legalization earlier this year.

I guess he wasn't kidding.

After years of pushing from advocates, lawmakers in the Ohio House are poised to consider a Republican-sponsored bill that would allow Ohioans to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, at the direction of a licensed physician.

They don't appear to be messing around, either. Rep. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton), who headed the task force and who will spearhead the select committee considering the new legislation, said he intends to move the bill rapidly through the chamber.

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Please don't sign a petition to put "medical" marijuana on the ballot.

You may be asked by paid people at a festival.

Marijuana is not a medicine. It does not cure anything.

The American Cancer Society, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Glaucoma Society and others do not support marijuana as a medicine.

A synthetic form of THC called Marinol is available in pill form.

Marijuana is addictive and promotes using other illicit drugs.

It permanently lowers the IQ of young users and can cause destructive emotional changes.

Fifteen "investors" will pay $500,000 each to be a growing site. It is not really about helping people - it's about making money.

There's no such thing as "medical" marijuana. Please don't sign.

Pat Leech and John Leech

Newbury Township

[end]

Let's do something meaningful in Washington that is fully bi-partisan. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sponsored bill S2123, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, with 11 bipartisan co-sponsors. As of February, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had said he would put the bill on the floor for a vote if 10 more Republicans would co-sponsor.

As of April, he only needs three more Republicans, but time is running short to get this done prior to the election.

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