As details begin to emerge regarding possible revenue and locations for marijuana farms, the race to get a ballot for legalizing marijuana is on.
According to an article on centredaily.com, a group called “ResponsibleOhio” is pushing to get a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would legalize the sale of marijuana for medical and recreational use.
Three hundred and forty five acres of land would be used throughout 10 different farms if the ballot were passed. There would be three farms in the northwest, four in the southwest, two in central Ohio, and one in northwest Ohio. The closest location for Dayton citizens would be in the city of Moraine where nearly 51 acres would be used to farm the plant.
Chase Ritenauer, mayor of the northeastern Ohio city of Lorain, says that even though he has never smoked cannabis, he is not against someone developing a large indoor marijuana farm on undeveloped city-owned property.
According to centredaily.com, Ritenauer says that the marijuana farm could bring $2 million annually for his economically struggling city of 64,000 people.
If the proposal were to reach the ballot, anyone over the age of 21 could buy as much as one ounce of cannabis. The farms would not be permitted within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, daycare centers and playgrounds.
With Oregon and Alaska being the two newest additions to allow recreational use, more data will be coming in about just how much revenue the states are making by taxing marijuana sales.
According to an article on nerdwallet.com Colorado was expected to make as much as $70 million from marijuana sales taxes. They said that if every state were to legalize it, the US could gain just over $3 billion in taxes per year. California would be expected to make the most out of all the states with about $519 million. For comparison, that money almost takes care of the 2013 budget for the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Ohio would be expected to rake in a nice chunk of money around $122 million in one year.
While the money does sound nice and would be very beneficial if used properly, not everyone is on board with the idea.
Chuck Boso, a city administrator in Grove City, was not one of the smiling faces after learning about how one of the farms would be in his town, according to dispatch.com
“We’ve forwarded this on to our city attorney to see exactly what this means to the city and if there is something we can do to control this. I don’t think it would be the type of business we would recruit,” Boso said.
As of right now, the ballot is still in the process of making it past the proposal stage. The issue relies heavily on bringing in tax revenue and the jobs that Responsibile Ohio is promising. It also does not help their cause that Gov. John Kasich and four other non-judicial office holders have all said they are against the amendment.
Matt Summers
Reporter