Ohio marijuana legalization question falls short on signatures for fall ballot, gets 10 more days

By JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A proposal to legalize adult use of marijuana in Ohio has fallen just short of the signatures needed to make the November ballot. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose determined Tuesday that the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol needed just 679 more voter signatures to get the issue on the ballot. The group has 10 days to try again, and it says it’s confident it will do so. The ballot measure would allow adults 21 and over to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and to grow plants at home. Ohio’s Legislature legalized medical marijuana in 2016, and the state’s first dispensaries opened in 2019.