About Issue 2 & Why Ohioans Must Reject It
For Health
If Issue 2 is passed, Ohio children will pay the price. Ohio’s Children’s Hospitals and pediatricians oppose Issue 2 because it’s clear recreational weed will hurt our kids.
According to the CDC, marijuana use while pregnant can lead to lower birth weight and abnormal neurological development.1
A Harvard study even found children of marijuana users were impulsive and hyperactive, exhibited behavioral issues, had lower IQ scores, and had memory problems when compared to children of non-users.2 Secondhand marijuana smoke contains many of the same toxic and cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke.
To top things off, kids and adolescents are impressionable and often believe they’re invincible. If they see adults using marijuana, they may think it’s okay for them to use it as well. However, the decision-making part of the brain isn’t completely developed until the age of twenty-five. Children can’t fully understand the impact that using drugs could have on their lives and development.
In the end, Big Marijuana is a predatory, addiction-for-profit industry. A study by the US Department of Health and Human Services showed as many as thirty percent of marijuana users will become addicted.3 Just like Big Tobacco, the marijuana industry sells an addictive product – making money off people’s pain.
For Safety
Issue 2 is a welfare program for drug dealers. It not only allows convicted drug dealers to own and invest in marijuana stores and farms, but also gives them special preference and funding assistance.
We shouldn’t allow just anyone to be able to sell powerful drugs – especially not people who have broken the law before.
Legalizing pot also puts us all in danger at our places of work. In Colorado, where recreational marijuana has been legal for years, workplace accidents are increasing, in addition to problems with recruiting and retaining employees.4
Ohio workers shouldn’t have to worry that a stoned colleague is putting their safety at risk.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Issue 2 would fund lobbying and political activities that weaken law enforcement, including lowering bail, parole, and probation regulations – putting criminals back on the street. These are the same rotten ideas behind the Defund the Police movement.
Although nobody should go to jail for smoking a joint, this proposal would make all of us less safe.
For Business
Issue 2 as proposed is a rigged game for a few greedy investors who want to change Ohio’s law for their own gain.
It would give a handful of companies the first right to sell marijuana and limit others from starting marijuana businesses.
Researchers at The Ohio State University estimate these stores could generate as much as $4 billion in sales.5 That’s a lot of money up potentially up for grabs and investors are licking their chops, ready to corner the market. But that doesn’t mean legal pot is what’s right for Ohio.
It’s clear the people pushing Issue 2 don’t have our best interests at heart. They’re concerned about their wallets – not our state’s wellbeing.
We can’t afford to put our children, our economy, and our state at risk so a select few can get rich.