Medical Marijuana

Legalize Ohio 2016, also known as Ohioans to End Prohibition, has paused its recreational marijuana legalization campaign.

(Jim Mone, Associated Press)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The only group actively collecting signatures to put a marijuana legalization measure on the Ohio ballot this year has paused its campaign.

Instead, the Legalize Ohio 2016 campaign will work with Marijuana Policy Project on its medical marijuana measure and with marijuana activists trying to reduce criminal penalties for marijuana possession.

The campaign told supporters Wednesday that is could not raise the money for a successful ballot measure campaign. Its political action committee, Ohioans to End Prohibition, reported having only $268 in the bank at the end of January.

Four states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana use -- all had a medical marijuana system in place before voters approved recreational use. Legalize Ohio 2016 spokesman Michael Hiles said Ohio probably isn't ready for a recreational measure.

Hiles said the group's Cannabis Control Amendment was drafted last year in response to another recreational marijuana measure, Issue 3, which voters handily rejected in November.

"Nobody anticipated MPP coming to the state and we're hoping this is going to be the better policy," Hiles said. "Let's do this the right way and work with the coalition across the state. If people don't like that and don't want to vote for it, they don't have to. We can't sit here and keep it criminalized with no policy at all instead of supporting incremental change."

Legalize Ohio 2016 plans to:

collect signatures for Marijuana Policy Project's proposed constitutional amendment, which

offer legal services and other support to local decriminalization efforts.

The group had collected about 80,000 of the 305,591 signatures of registered Ohio voters required to qualify for the statewide ballot. The signatures do not expire and could be turned in to qualify for a future ballot.