Yost rejects proposed amendment to undo marijuana restrictions

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(The Center Square) – A proposed ballot initiative to repeal new restrictions on recreational marijuana use in Ohio that are scheduled to take effect in March is up in the air, at least for now.

Attorney general Dave Yost rejected proposed ballot language’s summary on a referendum that would undo parts of the legislation.

Specifically, Yost took issue with the title and summary of the ballot question to repeal parts of Senate Bill 56, which passed the Ohio General Assembly late last year.

“Upon review of the summary, we identified omissions and misstatements that, as a whole, would mislead a potential signer as to the scope and effect of SB 56,” Yost wrote in a response letter to supporters of the initiative.

Ohio voters in 2023 approved a measure legalizing the recreational use of marijuana but SB 56 placed new restrictions on the use and sale of hemp products.

The group that proposed the referendum, Ohioans for Cannabis Choice, says it will be rewrite the language.

"We're disappointed, but not surprised or deterred,” the group said in a statement. “Ohio Attorney General David Yost is just a speedbump in the process. We are going to fix the language, collect an additional 1,000 signatures, and not slow down. Voters this November will have the opportunity to say no to SB 56, no to government overreach, no to closing 6,000 businesses and abandoning thousands of Ohio workers, and no to defying the will of Ohioans who overwhelmingly supported legalizing cannabis in 2023."

State Democrats. meanwhile, blamed Republicans for trying to undo the 2023 referendum vote, known as Issue 2.

“Republicans know Ohioans are ready to hold them accountable for rewriting Issue 2, so instead of letting voters decide, they delay and distract to try and prevent the referendum altogether,” House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, said in a statement. “We’ve seen this playbook before – misdirection, misinformation, and fearmongering meant to protect Republican state leaders from voter accountability. Ohioans are tired of politicians manipulating the process to cling to power, and they deserve a system that respects their votes, not one that works overtime to silence them.”