Ohio’s Senate president says he is working with bipartisan lawmakers in both chambers to quickly develop and pass legislation to revise the state’s voter-approved cannabis legalization law before key provisions take effect next month, arguing that it’s what “the public generally wants” because voters likely didn’t think through the specifics of the reform they authorized.
While the cannabis initiative passed with 57 percent support on the ballot this month, Senate President Matt Huffman (R) says most voters only had a superficial understanding of the measure, simply deciding “are we going to legalize cannabis or not.”
“Now, did the voters, for example, know that there was going to be a preference for licenses to people that have formerly been convicted for selling drugs illegally? Probably not very many people thought of that,” he said in an episode of his “President’s Podcast” that was recently posted. “It’s important for the folks to go through here and look to see what changes are going to be made, which we think the public generally wants.”
Americans don’t want lawmakers to infringe on their civil liberties, he said. But they “also want the protections of government, and that’s really the fine line that governments have to find. That’s why generally, it’s better to have these things sorted out in the legislature… There needs to be some protection for the public, just like we regulate alcohol.”
Read more at marijuanamoment.net