Robert Celt
New Member
In early November, Ohio voters said no to a ballot measure that would have made marijuana legal in the Buckeye State.
An analysis of voting trends shows most of the opposition to the pro-pot proposal came from suburbs surrounding cities like Cincinnati and Cleveland.
To better understand the results, WLWT News 5 investigative reporter Todd Dykes spoke with Todd Mitchem, a native Ohioan who now makes a living in Colorado's legal cannabis industry.
Mitchem, who grew up north of Columbus, said he has smoked his fair share of marijuana.
"I had been a cannabis consumer most of my teenage years and into adulthood," Mitchem said.
But smoking pot appeared to do little to slow Mitchem down.
Before becoming what he calls a "cannapreneur," Mitchem worked for a business training company called Eagle's Flight.
"Basically, we would go into huge organizations like Starbucks, Purina and Nestle and restructure those companies and work on culture inside the company," Mitchem said.
Now Mitchem is a marijuana advocate and co-founder of a social media app for marijuana enthusiasts called High There.
"It's just a really great format for people who want to talk about cannabis," Mitchem said. "They want to talk about consumption. Maybe they want to date people who are also like them. So, it really opens up a social framework for that."
Since he's from Ohio, Mitchem paid close attention to Issue 3, a pro-pot ballot measure crafted by a group called ResponsibleOhio.
The proposal called for making weed legal for both medical and recreational purposes, and it also would have limited the number of marijuana grow sites to 10.
Voters soundly defeated the measure on Election Day, and Mitchem wasn't surprised.
"I was hopeful in one sense that the decriminalization effort would win and that patients would be able to get access to cannabis. That was really important. However, I think the mistakes that were made were allowing a certain select group of businesses to really run this state. That was the problem, and I think the assumption that voters were going to buy that was a bad assumption. Cannabis people are very intelligent. They're very thoughtful. And so I think they were smart enough to know that wasn't going to work." Mitchem said.
"But, you know, if you look at Colorado, we have a thousand licenses in the state combined, you know, cultivation and grow and different types of marijuana-infused products. So, that's a huge marketplace that's been allowed to open up. Ohio could have really followed that model and didn't, and I think the voters were smart enough to tell."
Mitchem believes legalizing marijuana for medical purposes makes the most sense for Ohio and for people like his mom, who has used pot in her fight against cancer.
"That's a pretty scary diagnosis," Mitchem's mother said.
Her son added, "She was given four to six months to live and that was over seven years ago, and she's still alive. So, you know, people will say it's anecdotal, but I can still pick up the phone and call my mother."
Mitchem's mom turned to pot after getting sick of taking narcotics and said THC from a marijuana plant makes her feel relaxed, not high.
"I can take three pills a day. Well, if I do that, all I want to do is sleep," she said. "I mean, I could sleep all day. My alternative is to use the vape pen. One pull off of that and within 20 minutes my body starts to calm down. I don't go to sleep. I can function as a normal person. That's my choice. I don't want all those pills. I don't want to sleep all day. If I'm going to be here, I want to be alive. I want to participate in life."
She continued, "I didn't know anything about cannabis, had no idea. My husband actually did the research. ...This is something that works. I just feel like the pharmaceuticals are taking over, and they control us. I want to have a say in this."
Mitchem agrees with his mom and hopes Ohioans battling certain ailments will have access to marijuana sooner rather than later.
"What I think has to happen is first, kind of like we've done in Colorado and other states, is focus on the medical aspect of the plant. Everything from migraines to cancer. There's a large list of things cannabis could be helping in this state from a patient perspective. And I think focusing on that goal on the medical side is really critical. .. A lot of people will argue that recreational is really important. And other people will argue recreational is a bad thing, and I think you've attached a word onto something that really has enormous medicinal benefit, and that's where people should focus right out of the gate. Then you're able to get research done. Then you're able to get it to patients. You're able to help a lot of people. So that's what I would focus on next. And opening up a marketplace that makes sense to all businesses - and allow for small businesses to operate within the state."
Ohio lawmakers have indicated they're willing to consider medical marijuana proposals in the coming months, especially after a survey in October by Quinnipiac University indicated 90 percent of Ohio voters support medical marijuana.
The key, Mitchem said, is making sure any future marijuana marketplace in the Buckeye State, if there is one, is well-regulated.
"One of the things that Colorado did that was very intelligent is lawmakers got together and really regulated medical cannabis. And by regulating it and licensing it and putting it through a system that made sense, by dedicating a law enforcement division to the cannabis, the Marijuana Enforcement Division, they were able to really focus on the rules and regulations. And so being able to do that took it out of this idea of being a conservative state that didn't want cannabis. They were using conservative ideals to drive the message."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Dissecting Marijuana's Election Day Defeat In Ohio
Author: Todd Dykes
Contact: WLWT5
Photo Credit: None found
Website: WLWT5
An analysis of voting trends shows most of the opposition to the pro-pot proposal came from suburbs surrounding cities like Cincinnati and Cleveland.
To better understand the results, WLWT News 5 investigative reporter Todd Dykes spoke with Todd Mitchem, a native Ohioan who now makes a living in Colorado's legal cannabis industry.
Mitchem, who grew up north of Columbus, said he has smoked his fair share of marijuana.
"I had been a cannabis consumer most of my teenage years and into adulthood," Mitchem said.
But smoking pot appeared to do little to slow Mitchem down.
Before becoming what he calls a "cannapreneur," Mitchem worked for a business training company called Eagle's Flight.
"Basically, we would go into huge organizations like Starbucks, Purina and Nestle and restructure those companies and work on culture inside the company," Mitchem said.
Now Mitchem is a marijuana advocate and co-founder of a social media app for marijuana enthusiasts called High There.
"It's just a really great format for people who want to talk about cannabis," Mitchem said. "They want to talk about consumption. Maybe they want to date people who are also like them. So, it really opens up a social framework for that."
Since he's from Ohio, Mitchem paid close attention to Issue 3, a pro-pot ballot measure crafted by a group called ResponsibleOhio.
The proposal called for making weed legal for both medical and recreational purposes, and it also would have limited the number of marijuana grow sites to 10.
Voters soundly defeated the measure on Election Day, and Mitchem wasn't surprised.
"I was hopeful in one sense that the decriminalization effort would win and that patients would be able to get access to cannabis. That was really important. However, I think the mistakes that were made were allowing a certain select group of businesses to really run this state. That was the problem, and I think the assumption that voters were going to buy that was a bad assumption. Cannabis people are very intelligent. They're very thoughtful. And so I think they were smart enough to know that wasn't going to work." Mitchem said.
"But, you know, if you look at Colorado, we have a thousand licenses in the state combined, you know, cultivation and grow and different types of marijuana-infused products. So, that's a huge marketplace that's been allowed to open up. Ohio could have really followed that model and didn't, and I think the voters were smart enough to tell."
Mitchem believes legalizing marijuana for medical purposes makes the most sense for Ohio and for people like his mom, who has used pot in her fight against cancer.
"That's a pretty scary diagnosis," Mitchem's mother said.
Her son added, "She was given four to six months to live and that was over seven years ago, and she's still alive. So, you know, people will say it's anecdotal, but I can still pick up the phone and call my mother."
Mitchem's mom turned to pot after getting sick of taking narcotics and said THC from a marijuana plant makes her feel relaxed, not high.
"I can take three pills a day. Well, if I do that, all I want to do is sleep," she said. "I mean, I could sleep all day. My alternative is to use the vape pen. One pull off of that and within 20 minutes my body starts to calm down. I don't go to sleep. I can function as a normal person. That's my choice. I don't want all those pills. I don't want to sleep all day. If I'm going to be here, I want to be alive. I want to participate in life."
She continued, "I didn't know anything about cannabis, had no idea. My husband actually did the research. ...This is something that works. I just feel like the pharmaceuticals are taking over, and they control us. I want to have a say in this."
Mitchem agrees with his mom and hopes Ohioans battling certain ailments will have access to marijuana sooner rather than later.
"What I think has to happen is first, kind of like we've done in Colorado and other states, is focus on the medical aspect of the plant. Everything from migraines to cancer. There's a large list of things cannabis could be helping in this state from a patient perspective. And I think focusing on that goal on the medical side is really critical. .. A lot of people will argue that recreational is really important. And other people will argue recreational is a bad thing, and I think you've attached a word onto something that really has enormous medicinal benefit, and that's where people should focus right out of the gate. Then you're able to get research done. Then you're able to get it to patients. You're able to help a lot of people. So that's what I would focus on next. And opening up a marketplace that makes sense to all businesses - and allow for small businesses to operate within the state."
Ohio lawmakers have indicated they're willing to consider medical marijuana proposals in the coming months, especially after a survey in October by Quinnipiac University indicated 90 percent of Ohio voters support medical marijuana.
The key, Mitchem said, is making sure any future marijuana marketplace in the Buckeye State, if there is one, is well-regulated.
"One of the things that Colorado did that was very intelligent is lawmakers got together and really regulated medical cannabis. And by regulating it and licensing it and putting it through a system that made sense, by dedicating a law enforcement division to the cannabis, the Marijuana Enforcement Division, they were able to really focus on the rules and regulations. And so being able to do that took it out of this idea of being a conservative state that didn't want cannabis. They were using conservative ideals to drive the message."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Dissecting Marijuana's Election Day Defeat In Ohio
Author: Todd Dykes
Contact: WLWT5
Photo Credit: None found
Website: WLWT5
