Yo, what up, Ohioans? It’s ya boy, Dan, here to drop some knowledge on y’all. So listen up, the official voting day in Ohio is goin’ down on Nov. 7, but guess what? Early votin’ already started on Oct. 11. Now, this year is a big deal for all my cannabis lovers out there ’cause there’s a weed legalization measure called Issue 2 that’s gonna be on the ballot. But hold up, some of them legislators ain’t too happy ’bout the idea of legalizin’ that good ol’ Mary Jane. They talkin’ ’bout possibly repealin’ the law if it actually gets passed. Damn!
Senate President Matt Huffman ain’t playin’ around, y’all. He spoke out against SR-216 on the Senate floor and said that it’s gonna come back to haunt us if Issue 2 gets approved by the voters. He straight up said, “We’re gonna have a mental health crisis on our hands.” That’s some heavy stuff, man. He thinks we gonna be payin’ for this mess for years and years and it’s only gonna get worse. He even threatened to review and repeal parts of the bill if it passes. Dang!
And hold up, he even said that if Issue 2 passes, there gonna be more teenagers in Ohio takin’ their own lives. That’s some dark stuff right there. Instead of blamin’ the weed for that, he think we gonna need drug counselors in schools talkin’ to kids about stayin’ away from drugs. But he thinks it’s gonna be too late by then ’cause weed gonna be everywhere and part of our culture. He might not be a scientist, but he claim he know the facts and that it’s all true.
Now check this out, just as early votin’ started last week, we got Republican Sen. Mark Romanchuk and Rep. Terry Johnson, along with 14 others, bringin’ in Senate Resolution 216. They say this legalization gonna bring all kinds of bad stuff to Ohio if we vote “yes” on Issue 2. They claim this proposed statute written by the weed industry ain’t good for us. They talkin’ ’bout threats to our health, especially for the kids, dangers at work, and a bunch of other costs and challenges for employers. They even say it gonna make our roads more dangerous, man! And don’t forget about them unfunded costs to our social services. They claim this whole thing just helpin’ out the weed industry and their investors. Ain’t that some shady business?
Now, a lot of these concerns they bringin’ up ain’t nothin’ new, man. We been hearin’ these arguments from the anti-weed crowd for a minute now. They claim marijuana is a gateway drug that lead four outta ten people into tryin’ harder stuff. And they always say that smokin’ weed gonna make you start poppin’ pills like there’s no tomorrow. But check this out, they talkin’ ’bout drug overdoses bein’ the “leading cause of injury and death” in Ohio? Well, according to state records, COVID-19 done killed over 42,000 people here. That’s more than them drug overdoses they so worried ’bout.
Let me hit y’all with some facts right quick. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention say that in 2017, the top 10 causes of death in Ohio was heart disease, cancer, accidents, respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, flu/pneumonia, kidney disease, and septicemia. Ain’t nobody talkin’ ’bout how weed causin’ all them problems.
But yo, they tryin’ to hit us with some more claims. They say regular weed use gonna mess up your intelligence, memory, and learnin’ abilities. They even say underage weed use gonna mess up your school performance, IQ, and behavior. And they tryin’ to blame weed for causin’ mental disorders like psychosis, depression, and even suicide. That’s some heavy stuff they throwin’ at us.
They end their bill text by sayin’ that they want us to say “no” to Issue 2 ’cause it gonna ruin our high quality of life, health and safety, economy, and opportunities for the young ones. They tryin’ to make it sound all fancy, but we know what’s really goin’ on.
But check this out, my people. The campaign group called Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol ain’t backin’ down. They worked hard and submitted nearly 130,000 signatures to get Issue 2 on the ballot. They had a little hiccup at first, but they got 10 days to find just 679 more voters to sign a supplemental petition. They confident ’cause they know a majority of Ohioans support them. We ain’t playin’ around when it comes to regulatin’ and taxin’ that good ol’ Mary Jane.
And yo, listen to this. The Coalition did a poll and found out that three outta five Ohioans plan to vote “yes” on Issue 2 in November. That’s some good news right there. Last year, a similar poll showed that only 63% of voters were down for legalizin’. But this year, that number went up to 67%. We makin’ progress, my friends.
And let me drop one more bomb on y’all. Projections from Ohio State University show that if we legalize weed, we could be stackin’ up somewhere between $275 million to $403 million in taxes by the fifth year. That’s a whole lot of money, man. Think ’bout all the good we could do with that.
So there you have it, Ohio. The fight for legal weed is goin’ down. We got them legislators tryin’ to repeal it if it passes, but we ain’t gonna let ’em stop us. We got the people on our side, and we gonna make our voices heard. So get out there, vote, and let’s make history happen.