In this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, host Mike Thompson discusses the opposition to legalizing recreational marijuana in the state. Center for Christian Virtue Policy Director Dave Mahan joins the show.
Dead-lines
Will the Ohio Supreme Court approve the second attempt at drawing state legislative maps? No word yet.
Candidates had to file this week, without knowing exactly who would vote for them, and a new state law gave them a little leniency on the signatures they had to collect.
Also, there's no word from lawmakers who are drawing new congressional maps. They have until the middle of the month to meet the Ohio Supreme Court’s deadline.
Stop pot
The effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Ohio is officially legit. The group calling itself Treat Marijuana Like Alcohol has collected enough signatures to make the state legislature consider legalizing cannabis for fun. State officials certified the signatures last week.
That means the initiated statue process moves to its next phase. The state legislature and the governor have four months to enact the bill as is or ignore it. If they reject or ignore it, the group then goes back out to collect more signatures, and if they do that, it will be up to Ohio voters in November.
While legalization may seem inevitable to some, opponents are working against the effort, raising concerns about the drug's effect on brain development and the role large out-of-state marijuana interests are playing.
Snollygoster of the week
Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted were front and center announcing the plans for Intel to build two computer chip factories in New Albany and they both promised to let us know what incentives the state was giving Intel to land the huge project.
But when it came time to let us know how much taxpayers would be paying to get Intel, they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, they left it up to the state’s Development Director Lydia Mihalik who made the case that investing $2 billion over 30 years is worth the expected yearly $3 billion boost to the state’s economy.
Send questions and comments to snollygoster@wosu.org.