ResponsibleOhio adds homegrow, changes grow site in marijuana legalization proposal

marijuana grow facility

ResponsibleOhio, which wants to legalize marijuana in Ohio, has changed its plan to allow people to grow up to four plants at home.

(Elaine Thompson/AP)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The group wanting to legalize marijuana in Ohio -- but to limit growing to 10 regulated commercial sites -- released a revised plan Wednesday that would allow Ohioans to grow smaller amounts at home and changes one of its intended grow sites.

The homegrow addition to ResponsibleOhio's plan was intended to be an olive branch to pro-marijuana legalization groups that have been working on the issue for years in Ohio. The grow site planned for Moraine, near Dayton, has been eliminated from the proposal, according to amendment language released Wednesday evening.

ResponsibleOhio wants to legalize marijuana for medical use and for personal use for adults over age 21. The group's plan would limit growing to 10 commercial sites promised to campaign backers, allowing adults over age 21 to apply for licenses to manufacture marijuana edibles and other items and own retail stores.

Legalizing marijuana

Several proposals are in the works to legalize marijuana in Ohio.

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The revised amendment allows adults over age 21 to own up to four flowering plants and possess up to 8 ounces of dried marijuana for personal use -- as long as they first obtain a homegrower's license from a yet-to-be created commission. A license would cost $50, but all other requirements would be left up to the commission to decide. Homegrown marijuana could not be sold and would have to be kept in an "enclosed, locked space inaccessible to
persons under the age of 21."

The new proposed constitutional amendment also changes where one of those 10 sites would be, eliminating a 50-acre site planned for Moraine, near Dayton, and adding a 25-acre site on Ohio Route 42, southwest of Delaware in Central Ohio.

The Moraine property belonged to the city. City officials chose to option the land to an unknown buyer, not knowing it could be used as a 100,000 square foot indoor marijuana farm.

City Manager David Hicks said he was disappointed in the secrecy behind the transaction and questioned whether it met the amendment's requirement that the entrance be located at least 1,000 feet from a church or school.

Hicks said the buyer has not officially pulled out of the deal in writing, but he's relieved that, for now, it appears Moraine is out of the group's plans.

ResponsibleOhio, in a press release Thursday, insisted the facility would have been built on the property so it met the requirement. Spokesperson Lydia Bolander said changing the property to one in Delaware County "reflects a desire to bring this job growth and revenue to a location where such a venture would be supported."

"We understand the pressure the Moraine city manager has been under," Bolander said. "But we also understand the need for Ohio to reform its failed marijuana laws, the desire for people to find jobs and for cities to recoup lost revenue due to state and local government cuts. This amendment provides solutions to each of these serious problems facing our state."

Jon Allison, a spokesman for Ohio's Drug-Free Action Alliance, questioned ResponsibleOhio's commitment to helping local governments, which under the amendment, would not be allowed to block construction of the grow facilities and receive less revenue with the group's newly proposed lower retail tax.

"It's a mystery to me how they think they can build trust with Ohio's voters when they're not only playing hide the ball, but they're on their second round of language and who knows if that will stick," Allison said.

ResponsibleOhio submitted its initial language last week to the Ohio attorney general but plans to submit the new language later this month. If certified by the attorney general and deemed one issue by the Ohio Ballot Board, the group will need to collect more than 305,591 signatures of Ohio registered voters by July 1 to qualify for the November ballot.

Mobile readers, click here to read ResponsibleOhio's revised constitutional amendment language.

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