The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol initiative, listed on the ballot as Issue 2, was a ballot initiative for legalization of cannabis in the U.S. state of Ohio that was passed by voters on November 7, 2023.

History State law in Ohio allows citizens to bring initiatives before the General Assembly, with signatures of at least 3 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election. These must have been obtained from at least 44 of the 88 counties in Ohio. From each of these 44 counties, there must be signatures equal to at least 1.5 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor in that county at the last gubernatorial election.

Once those requirements are met, a group can force the General Assembly to consider an initiative. When there is no action taken by the General Assembly or the Governor, by collecting more signatures of a quantity again meeting the above-mentioned requirements, the group can force to send it to voters on the November ballot. In Ohio, a group called the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol brought the initiative to the Ohio Secretary of State to be a 2022 ballot initiative. It was approved on August 30, 2021, for signature gathering.Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative (2022), Ballotpedia Over 200,000 signatures were submitted to the state at the end of 2021.

A lawsuit over filing deadlines resulted in the Ohio Secretary of State and the General Assembly agreeing the initiative's signatures collected in 2021 and 2022 may be applied toward a 2023 ballot deadline.

In July 2023, on an initial count, supporters came up about 650 short of the required number of valid signatures. On August 3, more than ten times the remaining number required to validate the initiative for the November ballot were turned in to the secretary of state. On August 16, 2023, the secretary of state confirmed that the initiative would appear as a referendum ballot on November 7, 2023.

The initiative was passed by voters on November 7, 2023.

Provisions Adults age 21 and up may purchase, possess and consume marijuana. Adults over 21 are also allowed to grow up to six plants per person, or 12 plants per residence, at home.

The Division of Cannabis Control was created within the Ohio Department of Commerce to regulate cannabis commerce. This authority extends to cannabis testing laboratories and supply chain.

The initiative also specifies how tax revenues under the new law must be spent. Thirty-six percent (36%) must be designated for "social equity and jobs" programs, estimated to be as high as $150 million per year. Thirty-six percent (36%) goes to communities that have dispensaries. Twenty-five percent (25%) must go to education and addiction treatment programs, and 3% is used for regulatory and administrative costs.

Sponsor The sponsor of the initiative, Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, is an affiliate of Marijuana Policy Project.

Politics The General Assembly passed medical cannabis (along with decriminalized cannabis) in 2016 under Ohio House Bill 523.

In early 2022, pro-cannabis advocates gathered signatures to send recreational legalization measure to the General Assembly. In April, the Senate president publicly announced that he would not bring the measure up for a vote. Under Ohio law, advocates then had a second opportunity to gather more signatures, and if they gathered enough, the measure would go on the ballot in November. "The recreational cannabis petition collected 136,000 verified signatures, enough to get considered by the General Assembly, but would require an additional 132,877 signatures to proceed to the ballot."

The largest organized opposition came from the Center for Christian Virtue, which believes legalized cannabis will produce negative impacts on neighborhoods and society's drug addiction problems. The main proponent behind the ballot initiative was the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA), which dismissed the Center for Christian Virtue's opposition as "Prohibition-style talking points from 20 years ago."

In October 2023, Republican Senate President Matt Huffman warned that state legislators could repeal key provisions of Issue 2 if it passed.

Endorsements

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error For Against UndecidedData for Progress (D)October 31 – November 2, 2023582 (LV)± 4%61%34%6%Baldwin Wallace University Community Research InstituteOctober 9–11, 2023569 (RV)± 4.5%57%35%8%Fallon ResearchAugust 22–25, 2023501 (RV)± 4.37%59%32%9%FM3 ResearchAugust 14–23, 2023843 (LV)± 3.5%59%36%5%USA Today/Suffolk UniversityJuly 9–12, 2023500 (LV)± 4.4%58.6%34.8%6.6%

Results by county +Breakdown of voting by county County Yes, % Yes, votes No, % No, votesAdams43.8%3,36856.2%4,326Allen46.2%14,21653.8%16,581Ashland45.0%8,20055.0%10,029Ashtabula55.2%16,72544.8%13,590Athens70.6%13,05129.4%5,443Auglaize38.6%6,76161.4%10,741Belmont48.5%9,11251.5%9,691Brown50.5%6,74249.5%6,612Butler57.0%64,22343.0%48,410Carroll44.8%4,09155.2%5,043Champaign51.8%6,88748.2%6,400Clark55.7%22,59544.3%17,967Clermont57.3%42,62342.7%31,749Clinton51.5%6,76848.5%6,385Columbiana48.5%15,51751.5%16,490Coshocton49.1%5,36050.9%5,548Crawford46.9%6,04453.1%6,834Cuyahoga66.8%262,81633.2%130,329Darke37.9%6,85362.1%11,232Defiance47.2%5,95452.8%6,670Delaware55.5%53,05444.5%42,594Erie58.8%16,52941.2%11,565Fairfield52.6%28,97647.4%26,080Fayette48.6%3,93951.4%4,158Franklin68.0%285,83532.0%134,764Fulton42.3%6,42457.7%8,774Gallia44.7%3,27355.3%4,043Geauga51.8%21,07848.2%19,588Greene51.9%32,03448.1%29,747Guernsey50.0%5,58250.0%5,586Hamilton65.8%186,77034.2%97,257Hancock46.7%11,94153.3%13,623Hardin48.7%4,01451.3%4,235Harrison44.7%2,05355.3%2,543Henry42.1%4,16357.9%5,731Highland46.2%5,45153.8%6,343Hocking53.6%4,77046.4%4,128Holmes31.4%2,73168.6%5,961Huron51.6%9,20948.4%8,635Jackson48.9%3,96851.1%4,152Jefferson48.9%9,69151.1%10,123Knox47.8%10,57652.2%11,557Lake59.0%52,94041.0%36,735Lawrence51.7%8,50648.3%7,939Licking52.8%32,84847.2%29,351Logan49.4%7,63150.6%7,804Lorain59.6%65,95240.4%44,634Lucas61.2%72,21438.8%45,762Madison50.2%6,92549.8%6,880Mahoning52.0%39,06048.0%36,106Marion53.4%10,02546.6%8,742Medina53.8%39,75246.2%34,097Meigs52.0%3,36348.0%3,108Mercer34.5%6,04065.5%11,491Miami48.5%19,28951.5%20,471Monroe43.7%1,81856.3%2,339Montgomery60.3%101,55439.7%66,975Morgan45.2%2,07354.8%2,512Morrow48.5%6,32351.5%6,705Muskingum48.9%12,28551.1%12,814Noble41.8%1,71658.2%2,387Ottawa54.1%9,24645.9%7,843Paulding45.1%2,83754.9%3,449Perry51.8%5,63248.2%5,239Pickaway48.5%9,16251.5%9,748Pike47.0%3,50153.0%3,942Portage58.7%33,83941.3%23,778Preble47.3%6,68752.7%7,440Putnam30.8%4,42369.2%9,938Richland49.8%19,94550.2%20,074Ross53.0%11,35947.0%10,058Sandusky52.4%10,69247.6%9,694Scioto47.6%8,42452.4%9,283Seneca50.2%8,96249.8%8,881Shelby39.2%6,78560.8%10,519Stark51.9%65,86548.1%61,091Summit60.6%115,17439.4%75,010Trumbull53.1%34,34546.9%30,352Tuscarawas42.7%12,13857.3%16,281Union52.1%13,40847.9%12,330Van Wert44.6%4,29655.4%5,330Vinton52.3%1,79647.7%1,636Warren51.9%46,97048.1%43,558Washington47.6%9,27752.4%10,209Wayne44.6%16,59955.4%20,648Williams43.6%5,29056.4%6,856Wood55.3%25,87144.7%20,875Wyandot46.4%3,59553.6%4,145

Reaction On November 8, the day after polling, top Republican leaders in Ohio indicated the possibility of overturning the measures approved by the voters in the ballot, along with those of Issue 1 on abortion. Republicans who oppose the initiative are able to change the law and to repeal it due to holding majorities in both the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate. Ohio Senate leader Steve Huffman, a Republican, said that given the result, Ohio legislators "may consider amending the statute to clarify the questionable language regarding limits for THC and tax rates as well as other parts of the statute." While Issue 2 mandates that marijuana tax revenue should be used to regulate marijuana, support substance abuse services, assist industry business owners and fund local governments where recreational business owners exist, Ohio House leader Jason Stephens, also a Republican, called for the Ohio "legislature to lead on how best to allocate tax revenues", and proposed "county jail construction and funding law enforcement training".

Voter demographics The referendum was polarized most strongly by age, with support decreasing as voters got older. White voters were less supportive than Black and Latino voters.

Men were more supportive than women for legal marijuana. Except for voters who never attended college, support was largely constant for educational attainment.

+ Ohio Issue 2 vote by demographic subgroup Demographic subgroupYesNo % oftotal vote Total vote 57.0 43.0 100Age 18–29 years old 84 16 12 30–44 years old 69 31 22 45–64 years old 53 47 35 65+ years old 40 60 31Party ID Democrat 79 21 32 Republican 30 70 35Independent 64 36 33Ideology Liberal 85 15 34Moderate 64 36 30 Conservative 23 77 36Marital Status Married 50 50 61 Unmarried 66 34 39Married With Children? Yes 58 42 23 No 56 44 77Race White 54 46 85 Black 72 28 10 Latino 66 34 3 Asian N/A N/A 1 Other N/A N/A 1 Gender Male 58 42 47 Female 55 45 53Area Type Urban 65 35 40 Suburban 52 48 43 Rural 54 46 18White Born-Again or Evangelical Christian Yes 30 70 30 No 68 32 70Parents Men With Children 60 40 14 Women With Children 60 40 16 Men Without Children 57 43 33 Women Without Children 53 47 37Education Never Attended College 48 52 18 Some College 63 37 23 Associate's Degree 55 45 14 Bachelor's Degree 58 42 25 Advanced Degree 57 43 19Union Household Yes 63 37 30 No 55 45 702020 Presidential Vote Biden 80 20 45 Trump 31 69 43 Another Candidate 63 37 5 Did Not Vote 64 36 4Biden Approval Strongly Approve 79 21 15 Somewhat Approve 80 20 24 Somewhat Disapprove 65 35 13 Strongly Disapprove 35 65 46

See also Cannabis in Ohio List of 2021 United States cannabis reform proposals List of 2022 United States cannabis reform proposals List of 2023 United States cannabis reform proposals November 2023 Ohio Issue 1, an initiative appearing on the same ballot as 2023 Ohio Issue 2

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