The governor of Ohio met with GOP Senate and House leadership on Monday to discuss changes to a voter-approved marijuana legalization initiative that he wants to see implemented before part of the law take effect next month. Meanwhile, a key Democratic lawmaker who has championed cannabis reform says Republicans should have taken the chance to shape policy on the issue months or years ago.
Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said voters shouldn’t expect any “surprises,” and the proposed revisions that are being discussed would still honor the “spirit” of the reform. Potential changes would focus on mitigating youth consumption, reallocating certain tax revenue and increasing resources to prevent impaired driving.
The governor had already previewed the meeting with Senate President Matt Huffman (R) and House Speaker Jason Stephens (R) shortly after last week’s election, which saw voters approve legalization 57-43 percent. “We have an obligation I believe, to carry that out,” DeWine told reporters following Monday’s discussion.
With respect to possible changes, he said he doesn’t think “there’s any surprises out there,” nor does he think “any of the things that I have suggested that we do really flies in the face of the spirit of what people were voting for.”
“I truly believe that most people went in [to vote] and the issue was, ‘Are we gonna have legal marijuana or we’re not going to have legal marijuana?’ And the details—I’m not sure people got focused on it,” he said. “I have to focus on it because we have to administer it. We have to make sure it actually does, in fact, work.”
The governor stressed the urgency of getting changes to the statutory measure enacted before adult legalization of possession and cultivation becomes legal on December 7, saying you can’t “put the genie back in the bottle” after the fact and saying it “just gives everybody better notice of what the rules are and how this thing will work out” and will be “a lot better for everybody.”
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