With Election Day now finished, some states took the opportunity to give the voters the chance of voting on marijuana-focused proposals. Ohio is one of those states. During this year’s Election Day, Ohio allowed voters to decide on the idea whether or not their local municipality would approve new marijuana decriminalization proposals. However, the options have divided the voters.

Details

Fourteen different municipalities had the option to vote on these marijuana decriminalization proposals. These municipalities included Martins Ferry, Murray City, New Lexington, New Straitsville, Rayland, Tiltonsville, Yorkville, Brookside, Dillonvale, Laurelville, McArthur, Morristown, Mount Pleasant, and Powhatan Point. The first seven municipalities voted in favor of the decriminalization proposals with the other seven rejecting them.

These proposals were worded differently depending on the location where the vote was happening. Generally, the wording involved asking the voters if the jurisdiction should lower the “penalty for misdemeanor marijuana offenses to the lowest penalty allowed by State Law,” which is $0.

Past Attempts

22 jurisdictions across the state had already adopted local proposals, effectively decriminalizing possession. Voter initiatives passed some of those proposals while city councils adopted the others.

McArthur, one of the jurisdictions that rejected the proposals, released a recent press release. This press release stated cannabis decriminalization could be the beginning of “a downhill tumble” for society.

Additionally, NORML Appalachia of Ohio and the Sensible Movement Coalition also sought to bring more initiatives in dozens more cities, towns, and villages this year. These initiatives, like the ones recently voted on in Ohio, were focused around reducing the penalties of marijuana misdemeanors. However, not every effort succeeded by the signature gathering deadline.

Hope

Don Keeney, a NORML activist, stated that their attempts still resulted in them “winning” in their attempts to push these initiatives forward. This was despite their low voter turnouts. Also, they are preparing for another round of signature collections to occur in 2022. It is their hope that these attempts will eventually lead to decriminalization at the least.

Make sure to check back for more cannabis, hemp, and psychedelic related news.