Gov. John Kasich recently signed into law Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Program, making Ohio the 25th state to implement its own medical marijuana laws. The program, like many others across the country, is heavily regulated – requiring oversight by the Ohio State Medical Board and the Board of Pharmacy – and like in many other states, legislators fought to distinguish the program at all costs from the recreational markets that now exist in Colorado, Washington State, Oregon, and Alaska.
The signing comes less than a year after Ohioans were witness to the rise and fall of a proposed initiative that contained an oligopoly that would have restricted marijuana production to 10 incredibly wealthy individuals – an idea they overwhelmingly rejected last November.
Ohio is no different than most states with respect to the limited nature of its program – prohibiting whole plant access and home grow operations. It also is not groundbreaking with its lack of protection for patients who are still able to be fired at will by an employer for a failed drug test despite being registered for the program.
Where Ohio stands apart from other states that have worked to establish medical marijuana programs is in their promise of inclusion for people of color, who have been hyper-criminalized in every aspect of marijuana prohibition since the 1930’s.
As the country wakes up to a post-marijuana prohibition world, people of color who have been disproportionately targeted, arrested, prosecuted, and killed over marijuana have been looking at the now growing marijuana industry asking the question, “What about us?”
The industry is not just white. It is exclusively white. Despite this increasing awareness of that fact, many states continue to erect barriers that prevent people of color from entering the market—astronomical licensing fees, significant bond requirements, as well as the continued criminalization of people of color around marijuana (even in states where legalization has taken hold) all stand as barriers to entry for people of color.
Ohio’s legislation, following the language of most Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise statements, ensures that a portion of licenses will go to those who have been most directly impacted from marijuana prohibition; an approach more states must take if they have any interest in repairing the harms that marijuana prohibition and the larger drug war has caused.
Simultaneously, however, as lawmakers take one step forward with the Ohio legislation, they still remain true to a practice of exclusion that is now becoming engrained in the growing marijuana industry in its quest for “legitimacy.” By restricting access to those previously convicted of a felony offense, the industry and legislators are saying outright that this new industry is no place for people of color who have been and continue to be disproportionately criminalized, and who are much more likely to be arrested and convicted of felonies than white people. Many convictions that stand as a result of unfair and unjust practices and policies.
This November, several states including California will be voting on legalizing recreational or medical marijuana. They each have an opportunity to make the growing marijuana industry a little more equitable. And Ohio deserves some credit for being among the first to do so – for taking a first step at least.
Chris Alexander is a policy coordinator with the Drug Policy Alliance.
Author: Chris Alexander
Date Published: July 1, 2016
Published by Drug Policy Alliance