Would Ohio smoke 269 tons of pot?

Backers of a proposal to legalize marijuana in Ohio projects the people of the state will consume 269 tons of weed annually, bringing in $554 million in tax revenue.

Compared with other states' legal consumption, that number seems a bit, well, high.

ResponsibleOhio projected Ohioans would purchase more than $2.2 billion in legal marijuana by 2020 when the market has stabilized. That would be $271 for every resident older than 21 who could legally purchase it, according to a Gannett Ohio analysis.

In contrast, consumers in Colorado purchased about $700 million in medical and retail marijuana in 2014, the first year it was legal. That amounted to $190 for every resident older than 21. In the first months of legalization, consumers in Washington have purchased nearly $114.5 million in weed or $23.11 per legal resident.

But ResponsibleOhio said their report, prepared by campaign staff, was validated by a third-party economics firm in Cleveland. The firm, Burke, Rosen & Associates, will create its own, independent report in the coming months, according to a Tuesday news release.

"Ohioans already spend as much as a couple billion dollars each year on illegal marijuana, while our communities are simply not seeing the benefits," ResponsibleOhio spokeswoman Lydia Bolander said in a statement. "That money could be in the hands of local governments and small businesses instead of drug dealers."

The projected amount of marijuana Ohioans would purchase, 269 tons, is huge compared with early purchasing practices in Colorado, where customers purchased about 19 tons of retail marijuana and 55 pounds of medical marijuana in 2014, according to a recent report by the Colorado Division of Revenue.

ResponsibleOhio's projected tax revenue of $554 million — $161 million in sales tax alone — are dependent on Ohioans purchasing large amounts of marijuana. Growers, processors and retailers would be taxed at 15 percent, according to the proposal.

Colorado's tax revenue of nearly $44 million in its first year of recreational marijuana sales fell short of initial projections of $70 million, according to the state's tax report. Washington has brought in nearly $27 million in excise taxes on marijuana since July.

However, ResponsibleOhio touts the projections as opportunities to fill state cuts to the local government funds, according to the release.

The proposal, which has yet to be certified for the ballot, would legalize marijuana for medical and personal use for people older than 21.

jbalmert@gannett.com

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Twitter: @jbalmert