Amending the state constitution would secure Ohioans’ wins on Issue 2
In 2023, Ohioans passed Issue 2, which legalized recreational use of cannabis by people over 18, and required the use of “sin tax” revenue generated by the sale of recreational cannabis to support dispensaries’ communities, the social equity and jobs fund, and mental health and addiction services.
Voters passed Issue 2 by a 14-point margin, 57% to 43%.[1] As of April 2025, Ohio businesses have made more than $479 million in non-medical sales,[2] generating more than $27 million in sales tax revenue and another $47.9 million in sin tax revenue.[3] Despite overwhelming support by voters, big benefits for small businesses, and much-needed revenue for the state, Ohio legislators are now attempting to undermine the law and take away crucial elements of the people’s policy victory.
The legislature can overhaul Ohioans’ reforms because Issue 2 was an initiated statute — a change to the Ohio Revised Code — instead of a constitutional amendment, which is much more difficult for legislators to undo. For tamper-proof cannabis reform, Ohioans may need to amend the state constitution.
We did so with Issue 1, the same year we passed cannabis reform. As a result of Issue 1, Ohioans now have a constitutional right to “make and carry out [their] own reproductive decisions,” including abortion. It would be very difficult for the legislators to take away that right, and they cannot take any action that would infringe on it.
The policy wins in Issue 2 are far less secure. Whereas Issue 1 changed Ohio’s constitution, Issue 2 only changed the law, which the legislature can change back by simply passing a bill, such as the one currently moving through Ohio’s General Assembly, Senate Bill 56, [4] which recriminalizes cannabis possession, eliminates social equity funding and small grower licenses, and rolls back other policies the people passed in Issue 2.[5]
Cannabis reform advocates in other states have successfully campaigned to amend their states’ constitutions to ensure their policy wins withstand legislative interference. Missouri, Colorado, and Nevada have passed citizen-initiated amendments that reformed state cannabis policy. State legislatures in Maryland and New Jersey put similar legislation on the ballot; both passed overwhelmingly, with two-thirds majority support.[6]
Citizen-initiated constitutional amendments let the people bypass legislators, who may be influenced by interests outside the will of their constituents.[7] For that reason, legislators across the country are trying to stymie these campaigns before they even start,[8] by increasing the number of signatures that must be gathered, ending majority-rule by requiring supermajority support, and adding new barriers to getting amendments on the ballot.
In August 2023, the Ohio legislature attempted to preemptively make their own amendment to the state constitution. Politicians scheduled a special election that would have changed the rules for citizen-initiated amendments, likely keeping the reproductive freedom amendment (Issue 1) off the ballot in November.[9]
That scheme was rejected by Ohioans, clearing the way for a victory on Issue 1. If Issue 2 had been passed as a constitutional amendment, legislators would now be as powerless to interfere with the people’s will on cannabis as they are to interfere with Ohioan’s right to reproductive freedom.
The 2023 special election makes clear that Ohio legislators believe Ohio voters can’t be trusted to understand the things that they vote on.[10] Considering this lack of faith in the intelligence and ability of their constituents, Ohioans ought to consider a constitutional amendment to protect against future interference with the cannabis laws that they know they want to see in their state.
[1] Ballotpedia, Ohio Issue 2, Marijuana Legalization Initiative (2023). Accessed May 6, 2025.
[2] Ohio Dept. of Commerce, Div. of Cannabis Control Update By the Numbers. April 29, 2025. Accessed May 5, 2025.
[3]Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control Historical Sales Data
[4] See this source for more information about the current attacks and threats to state ballot initiative processes.
[5] See this source for more information about the Ohio legislature’s attempts to roll back cannabis law progress.
[6] See this source for more information on how different states have approached cannabis legalization.
[7] See the recent documentary, The Dark Money Game: Ohio Confidential for a prominent example.
[8] See this source for more information about the current ballot measure landscape.
[9] The special election was a deliberate attempt to keep Issue 1 off the ballot, as Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose admitted in a speech that was caught on video.
[10] “Ohio GOP says voters didn’t know what they were voting on when legalizing weed, passes bill to restrict it” by Morgan Trau. News5 Cleveland. February 26, 2025.