Pot Legalization Possible On Ballot This Fall

A pro­posed Ohio bal­lot issue this fall would pos­si­bly legal­ize mar­i­juana. Sev­eral bal­lot issues are being con­sid­ered for Ohio vot­ers to decide, one of which involves the legal­iza­tion of mar­i­juana in the state. Locally, all area law enforce­ment agen­cies have come out against the pro­posed legal­iza­tion, say­ing that they all believe pot use leads to the use of other drugs, call­ing mar­i­juana a gate­way drug. The Cres­cent News reports that Defi­ance County Sher­iff David Westrick is “adamantly opposed” to legal­iz­ing mar­i­juana in Ohio, say­ing “It’s a hal­lu­cino­genic used only for one pur­pose … to get high.” Some law enforce­ment offi­cers say they believe legal mar­i­juana would pro­mote more use, thus requir­ing more treat­ment for abusers and lit­tle sav­ings for tax­pay­ers foot­ing the bill for rehab.

As for med­i­c­i­nal mar­i­juana, well some offi­cers are a lit­tle softer on the issue, say­ing that it prob­a­bly should be con­sid­ered. They remain strictly opposed how­ever, to legal­iza­tion of any form of smok­ing marijuana.