Ohio legal weed launch a rare example of true representation being carried out in state government

State Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord) speaks from the floor of the Ohio House. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish only with original article.)

In a rare example of Ohio government functioning representatively, legal adult-use marijuana is coming soon to store shelves, and reasonable bipartisanship has prevailed over the machinations of gerrymandered extremists.

This past November, 57% of Ohio voters approved a new law for adult-use marijuana in the Buckeye State for those 21 and over.

Even though marijuana is legal now, Ohio law has no system set up yet for people to legally buy it. That will soon change, with the news this week that the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) has approved regulations from the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) , which means that medical dispensaries could start applying for a recreational license in the next few weeks.

Sales could begin as soon as mid-June, according to policymakers, the Division of Cannabis Control, and dispensary owners.

While gerrymandered extremists in the Ohio Senate passed a law to overhaul the voters’ wishes, it was mightily resisted by a bipartisan coalition in the Ohio House spearheaded by Republican state Rep. Jamie Callender, also the chair of JCARR.

Callender fought against changes that senators wanted to make, such as cutting down on home grow, limiting THC content, all but banning THC vapes, and reshuffling revenue from community, addiction, and business support toward law enforcement and the building of more jails.

In essence, the Ohio Senate Republican gerrymandered supermajority wanted to flout the voters’ will and take control over the new marijuana legalization for their own purposes instead of honoring the law that voters passed.

Callender and a bipartisan coalition in the Ohio House said, “No.”

For that, they can not be too much applauded.

The DCC has to file the rule in final form with JCARR, the Legislative Service Commission, and the Secretary of State’s office by May 22.

From there, applications will be available before June 7. These will be available for medical dispensaries wanting to expand to everyone, called a dual license, and for groups just wanting to sell recreationally.

The application process will be easy to become a dual facility since medical dispensaries already have a strenuous licensure process, Callender said. The applications could be approved in a week, he added .

Dual stores can start selling in mid-June, he anticipated. The DCC echoed those sentiments after the hearing.

As for how revenue will be handled under the law as passed by voters, here is the breakdown:

• 36% to the host community cannabis fund.
• 36% to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund.
• 12.5% of the substance abuse and addiction fund would go into Ohio’s 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline fund to administer the 988 system.
• 10% of the substance abuse and addiction fund would provide mental health and addiction services in county jails.
• 3% to the operations of the Division of Marijuana Control and Department of Taxation.
• 2.5% to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to develop the state’s mental health workforce.

After the law was passed by Ohio voters, Gov. Mike DeWine expressed a desire to see additions to create protections for children around packaging and advertising. Those suggested protections are reasonable, appropriate, and good. Ohio would be smart to learn from the examples and mistakes of other states and do our best to make sure that everything is done safely, and I don’t see anything wrong in responsibly adding to the measures that voters passed — as opposed to insulting voters by overriding their will.

Whether that can be done without political extortion and gamesmanship, the way this lege operates, is a whole other question.

Callender appears to agree with DeWine and anticipates movement to address such safety concerns.

“Packaging, child safety — some of those things I think still need to be dealt with,” he said.

I guess I’m old fashioned, but few things in government give a boon to my jaded spirits like seeing rationality, reason, cooperation, respect for the voters, respect for democracy, and the representation of the voters’ expressed wishes prevail in the halls of power.

On one hand I look around at America in 2024 and I see the most unscrupulous creatures conducting themselves in the most vile ways — blatantly, openly, and repeatedly lying to the voters and the constituents they’ve sworn oaths on bibles to represent faithfully; peddling the most inane nonsense and ignorance; abusing the powers of their public offices for the sake of corruption, favoritism, spoils system appointments, and sweetheart lawmaking handouts on the public dime; scapegoating fellow Americans and inciting people to violence, hatred, and distrust of one another; constantly poisoning the wells of public discourse with toxic sludge, and debasing and degrading our nation amongst ourselves and before the eyes of the world.

But every so often, with squinting eyes, we can see shimmers of hope on the horizon: A functioning republic borne of reason and integrity and compromise and dutiful respect for the obligation of faithful representation of the people — by the people, for the people.

I’ll savor what’s sadly become a rare example of that here in Ohio.

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