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DeWine Opposes Legalizing Marijuana for Recreational Use

Medical marijuana flowers at AT-CPC of Ohio in North Akron.
MARK AREHART
/
WKSU
Medical Marijuana is already legal in Ohio.

Some states around Ohio have legalized recreational marijuana. But Ohio’s Governor isn’t willing to embrace that possibility. 

Gov. Mike DeWine was adamantly opposed to the marijuana legalization plan that was on the ballot in 2015. And the fact that neighboring states are allowing it hasn’t changed his mind now.

“It would really be a mistake for Ohio, by legislation, to say that marijuana for adults is just ok.”

Dewine said he’s concerned legalization would hurt the health of younger people. And he says marijuana grown today is more potent than it was 40 or 50 years ago.

Groups that want to legalize marijuana in Ohio have tried several times but have not been able to get the support they need to get the issue back on the statewide ballot.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.