MANSFIELD — Sen. Larry Obhof (R) shared his understanding of the upcoming marijuana ballot issues 2 and 3 on Friday at the Regional Manufacturing Coalition. Obhof was a special guest to RMC’s quarterly meeting, which took place at Gorman-Rupp in Mansfield.
Obhof spoke specifically on how business owners may be affected should marijuana be legalized if issue 3 passes.
“I think this will cause a lot of issues. If you look at some of the information from the Drug Free Action Alliance, they say that in Colorado and Washington the positive hit-rate for marijuana tests for workers is on average 20 to 23 percent, versus 5 percent in other states,” said Obhof.
Based on a Drug Free Action Alliance study, Obhof said that the workforce will be less educated and more intoxicated in five or six years if Ohio legalizes marijuana.
“Are there safety issues that come from this? Probably. Do you have the ability to continue to regulate that in your work place? Maybe, maybe not. You’re going to have to let the courts decide that over the next four or five years,” said Obhof.
According to Obhof’s reading and understanding of issue 3, he said only 3 percent of marijuana’s revenue will be for medicinal reasons. The rest, he said, will be for recreational purposes.
Also, Obhof commented on how many marijuana dispensaries would be in Ohio under a passed issue 3.
“We would have over 1,100 different stores potentially selling these products. By contrast, I think there’s 203 Starbucks across the state. I think there’s about seven (hundred) or 800 McDonald’s across the state,” Obhof said.
On average, he said, there would be 14 or 15 stores per county.
Obhof then went into some of the specifics with issue 2, a bill that he said he’s been working on since the casino amendment passed in 2012.
“Issue 2 would make it much more difficult, it wouldn’t prevent, for people to use the initiative process for the purpose of creating a monopoly, an oligopoly, a cartel to give themselves a special economic benefit or preferential tax rate,” said Obhof.
One attendant of the meeting asked Obhof if issue 2 trumps issue 3 should both issues receive “yes” votes.
“The intent was that issue 2 would trump issue 3,” said Obhof, reminding the listeners that the investors will contest the issue in the supreme court. “Trying to prognosticate how the supreme court is going to rule on things is not a great way to stay in business.”
As part of RMC’s quarterly meeting, Jeff DeVito shared an update with the attendants on RCDG’s Talent Development Committee, which he co-chairs with North Central State College President Dorey Diab.
“Our overarching goal for our committee is to maximize or increase the educational attainment for all individuals at all levels of ability,” said DeVito.
DeVito also talked about the recent Manufacturing Day on Friday, Oct. 2. It resulted in 11 schools and nearly 700 students in participation.
“Last year we had one school and only 30 students. This year was a success,” said DeVito.
The next RMC meeting will take place on Monday, Jan. 25 at 5:30 p.m. For more information on RMC, visit their website.
