COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has certified a petition that would allow adults 21 and over to legally use marijuana.

In a release, AG Dave Yost said he has certified a revised petition for a proposed addition to the Ohio Revised Code. The statute would authorize adults 21 and older to legally use cannabis; it would also regulate the cultivation, processing, sale, purchase, possession, and home growth.

Yost’s office rejected a previous version of the petition on August 5 after finding the submitted summary did not meet the standard of a “fair and truthful statement of the proposed law or constitutional
amendment.”

“The revised petition does meet that requirement and a certification has been submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State,” according to Yost’s office.

Next steps:

• The Ohio Ballot Board will decide whether to certify the petition. If it does, the petitioners will have to collect signatures from registered voters “equal to at least 3% of the vote cast in the last gubernatorial election.”
• In addition, the signatures must come from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties and “the number must equal at least 1.5% of the vote cast in the last gubernatorial election.”
• If that petition passes muster and is verified by the AG’s office, Yost will send the proposed law to the General Assembly, then on to a referendum.
• If the General Assembly does not pass the proposed law, passes it in an amended form, or takes no action after four months, then petitioners can work to get the proposed law on the ballot in the next general election.