A No-Win Situation Ends in Just That: No Winners

There was a good reason that marijuana advocates like The Green Party of Ohio, the Libertarian Party of Ohio, and Ohioans to End Prohibition opposed Issue 3. Sure, marijuana would have been legalized for recreational use for everyone over 21 and for medicinal use for others, but Ohioans would have had to entrusted the entire business into the hands of ten corporations.

The good news from Ohio is that Issue 2 did pass, which will prevent monopolies like the one proposed in Issue 3 from finding their way onto the ballot in the future. Issue 2 passed with about 52% in favor and 48% opposed, as opposed to what they’ve been calling a “landslide” victory for the opponents of Issue 3 -- 65% voted no.

But here’s the troubling thing to me: “Voter turnout was near the historical average of 38.5 percent for off-year elections.” At this point because so few people turned out to even cast their ballots, it’s hard to tell if Ohioans would vote for legalizing marijuana if the provisions were changed and didn’t hand over a state-sponsored oligopoly to ten corporations, or if they opposed the whole concept of legalization.

So… good job, Ohio… I guess? Maybe next time you’ll be able to end the War on Drugs without having to get in bed with the devil, or ten greedy corporations.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC its affiliates, or its employees.

More from Jesse Ventura's Off The Grid

Advertisement