Ohio Voters Just Say No to Marijuana Legalization
Ryan Allway
November 4th, 2015
Policy, Top News
Ohio voters rejected a proposal on Tuesday that would have marked the first time that a state moved straight from marijuana prohibition to recreational legalization. Despite its significant funding and star-studded list of supporters, including NFL player Frostee Rucker and fashion designer Nanette Lapore, many experts believed the measure was doomed from the start due to the combination of crony capitalism and an off-year election cycle.
Bad Timing
The majority of Americans may support the legalization of marijuana, but most Americans don’t show up at the polls until the Presidential elections. While Kent State found 56% support for the Ohio legalization initiative, they warned that off-year elections tend to attract a disproportionate number of older conservative Republicans rather than younger liberal Democrats that tend to be more supportive of marijuana legalization.
Many marijuana policy organizations, such as the Marijuana Policy Project, have recommended that groups should focus their efforts on presidential election years when the greatest number of voters participate. Next year, at least five states will heed this advance and pursue marijuana legalization, including Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada. Experts believe that these measures could have a much higher chance of success.
Crony Capitalism
A second major problem with Ohio’s marijuana legalization initiative was the cannabis cultivation cartel that would have been formed as a result. Rather than opening the market to anyone, the proposal would have limited commercial cannabis production to ten sites that would be controlled by the initiative’s wealthy financial backers, and would have cut out the grassroots movement that has been instrumental to success elsewhere.
These dynamics alienated many marijuana advocates and even spurred the Drug Policy Alliance and Marijuana Policy Project to be neutral on the measure rather than supporting it. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (“NORML”) was openly critical of the proposal, calling it a “bitter pill to swallow” for the industry. Traditionally supportive political groups, like the Libertarian party, were also opposed to the measures.
Lessons Learned
Ohio’s unsuccessful marijuana legalization effort does provide a few lessons for other groups considering similar initiatives throughout the United States.
First, the best time to propose measures is during a presidential election cycle – such as the upcoming one in 2016 – since voter turnout is better. While the majority of American support cannabis legalization, they do not turn out in any significant numbers during off-year elections.
Second, the cannabis industry is not the tobacco industry and grassroots supporters are skeptical of corporate interests and wealthy backers looking to create cartels or monopolies within the burgeoning industry. Marijuana legalization measures should try to be as open and fair as possible in order to gain the support of legalization groups, organizations, and grassroots populations necessary to secure a victory in the polls.
In the end, the failure may have been a tough pill to swallow for the measure’s supporters, but most industry advocates aren’t losing any sleep.
Image courtesy of Erik Drost and used under Creative Commons.
This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.
About Ryan Allway
Mr. Allway has over a decade of experience in the financial markets as both a private investor and financial journalist. He has been actively involved in the cannabis industry since its inception, covering public and private companies.
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