On Ballot, Ohio Grapples With Spector of Marjiuana Monopoly

Today, the people of Ohio will go to the polls to vote on whether or not marijuana will be legal for both medial and recreational use in the state. However, this issue will be a tough one as there are two competing initiatives on the ballot. Issue 3 is bankrolled by wealthy investors and if passed, will give those investors the exclusive rights to grow the marijuana industry in Ohio. On the other hand, Issue 2, known as the antimonopoly amendment, will block Issue 3 by prohibiting the granting of special rights through the State Constitution.

The result has been one of the nation’s oddest legalization campaigns. It pits a new generation of corporate investors against grass-roots advocates like Mr. Wirtshafter, who deplores “opportunists seeking monopolistic gains” and laments that America would have been much better off “if they would have just let the hippies have their weed.”