Ohioans heeded the historically ineffective Just Say No advice of their Republican governor -- and, huh, one-time pot dealer to the Ronald Reagan campaign staff of '76, allegedly — John “ Not Gonna Be President ” Kasich, and voted against legalization of recreational weed-smoking. Guess all you on-the-down-low stoners in the Buckeye state will be staying in your smoky closet for now, with the towel shoved under the door, to keep the smell from escaping.
Here's hoping Issue 2 gets trashed by the courts. They pushed the anti-monopoly aspect, which appealed to a lot of people after the casino issue, but there's other criteria in there that can shoot down a citizen initiative. The worry is that the legislature will use this to shoot down any citizen initiative they don't like for frivolous reasons while looking the other way on anything they'd like to see on the ballot no matter how egregiously it violates the law.
You'll have to wait for him to finish his shift. He got a good union job at the Toledo Jeep plant (and absolutely hates being forced to be in a union).
A video of Chris Christie talking about addiction has gone viral, and it reminded me of an interview I saw of him after superstorm Sandy. That's when I got very afraid of his presidential aspirations. In both cases, he comes off as authentic and empathetic, and, if he kept that up instead of the bloviating blowhard, he could ride it all the way to the White House in the general election.
Well, just like state lotteries, which have pretty much blanketed the country in the past 40 years...pot legalization will be sweeping the country in the next 20 or so...even conservative pols won't be able to resist those tax revenues...
The Secretary of State's interpretation was that, if Issue 2 and Issue 3 both passed, Issue 2 would automatically negate Issue 3 even if Issue 3 received more votes. Issue 2 was put on the ballot by the legislature solely to shut down legalization when they couldn't keep Issue 3 off the ballot with signature challenges.
I believe that has been the plan all along. the money from the growers to promote the measure was actually used pretty well. They came pretty close given the bill was so badly written and did nothing to protect individual growers. I think they have a very good chance of passage if they dump the monopoly crap. It may have worked for the casinos, but just barely. And the reasons for limiting gambling sites was to pacify anti-gambling fundies. As soon as the measure passed there were slots in every race track and everywhere else too. The Gilberts still haven't built on the site they were supposed to develop because they immediately got a waiver to put it in the abandoned Higbees. So another part of this whole monopoly issue was that voters were never going to believe anything written in the measure because of the way the gambling 'monopoly' thing turned out. If Dems can turn around some of the state level seats, dump Husted, and actually write something that leads to decriminalization, then I think they can get the individual users behind them. As it was, even pot smokers didn't want any part of this because they knew the state legislators would manipulate it against anyone growing outside of the approved monopolies. But as long as the SOS and AG is held by fundie xtianists, I wouldn't count on being able to use or grow freely no matter what the voters approve. The politics in the state are not the same as WA and CO.
Assuming that to be a lie (he's a Rethug, and his lips were moving), I checked it out. Ohio has accumulated a total of $2B in their "rainy day fund". Not exactly a "running" number, and not actually a budget surplus - it's in the assets column, not the income column. Oh, and it's due mostly to the economy picking up, with Ohio's employment numbers tracking exactly the national average. (Thanks, Obama!)
Ask Trix about that . . . .
A "friend"
Suuuure.
=D
Hey, wait a second!
Interesting perspective, thanks.
Here's hoping Issue 2 gets trashed by the courts. They pushed the anti-monopoly aspect, which appealed to a lot of people after the casino issue, but there's other criteria in there that can shoot down a citizen initiative. The worry is that the legislature will use this to shoot down any citizen initiative they don't like for frivolous reasons while looking the other way on anything they'd like to see on the ballot no matter how egregiously it violates the law.
You'll have to wait for him to finish his shift. He got a good union job at the Toledo Jeep plant (and absolutely hates being forced to be in a union).
A video of Chris Christie talking about addiction has gone viral, and it reminded me of an interview I saw of him after superstorm Sandy. That's when I got very afraid of his presidential aspirations. In both cases, he comes off as authentic and empathetic, and, if he kept that up instead of the bloviating blowhard, he could ride it all the way to the White House in the general election.
The anti-Issue 3 ad I saw was ridiculous. They went on about marijuana candy like it was going to be marketed to kids like candy cigarettes.
Well, just like state lotteries, which have pretty much blanketed the country in the past 40 years...pot legalization will be sweeping the country in the next 20 or so...even conservative pols won't be able to resist those tax revenues...
It's better than the baseball one, at least.
The Secretary of State's interpretation was that, if Issue 2 and Issue 3 both passed, Issue 2 would automatically negate Issue 3 even if Issue 3 received more votes. Issue 2 was put on the ballot by the legislature solely to shut down legalization when they couldn't keep Issue 3 off the ballot with signature challenges.
I believe that has been the plan all along. the money from the growers to promote the measure was actually used pretty well. They came pretty close given the bill was so badly written and did nothing to protect individual growers. I think they have a very good chance of passage if they dump the monopoly crap. It may have worked for the casinos, but just barely. And the reasons for limiting gambling sites was to pacify anti-gambling fundies. As soon as the measure passed there were slots in every race track and everywhere else too. The Gilberts still haven't built on the site they were supposed to develop because they immediately got a waiver to put it in the abandoned Higbees. So another part of this whole monopoly issue was that voters were never going to believe anything written in the measure because of the way the gambling 'monopoly' thing turned out. If Dems can turn around some of the state level seats, dump Husted, and actually write something that leads to decriminalization, then I think they can get the individual users behind them. As it was, even pot smokers didn't want any part of this because they knew the state legislators would manipulate it against anyone growing outside of the approved monopolies. But as long as the SOS and AG is held by fundie xtianists, I wouldn't count on being able to use or grow freely no matter what the voters approve. The politics in the state are not the same as WA and CO.
Good on you and the workers on the ground who made it happen. This is a great day indeed!
Meigs County, Ohio is famous in marijuana circles.
"we’re running a $2 billion dollar surplus"
Assuming that to be a lie (he's a Rethug, and his lips were moving), I checked it out. Ohio has accumulated a total of $2B in their "rainy day fund". Not exactly a "running" number, and not actually a budget surplus - it's in the assets column, not the income column. Oh, and it's due mostly to the economy picking up, with Ohio's employment numbers tracking exactly the national average. (Thanks, Obama!)
They would if quaaludes were still made (according to a friend).