COLUMBUS, Ohio - Advocates for recreational marijuana submitted paperwork for a constitutional amendment Monday, which would allow people age 21 and over to possess the plant without criminal penalties and for the state to regulate cannabis like alcohol.

The group said in a statement they’re aiming to get on the November ballot. They have several hurdles to overcome to get there. But if the public approves it, recreational marijuana could be sold out of medical marijuana dispensaries beginning July 1, 2021.

Other dispensaries, cultivators and businesses could obtain licenses after that to participate in the recreational program.

The backers, not all of whom are named, include people who hold licenses in the state’s medical marijuana program and people who do not, such as Carrie Bebee, a Marysville mother of two sons with autism.

Other supporters are Evan Spencer of Columbus, a former Ohio State University and NFL football player who said he’s seen first-hand the effects opioids have on athletes and believes cannabis should be an option for pain; Mark Welty of New Philadelphia, who operates the only addiction and mental health treatment clinic in Ohio that also provides a physician on-site to evaluate and recommend medical marijuana; and medical marijuana patient Anthony Riley of Columbus, who has a traumatic brain jury, among other conditions, and is a patient advocate.

They’re being represented by Cleveland attorney Tom Haren, who has worked with medical marijuana companies in the past.

The proposed amendment calls for recreational marijuana to be taxed. However, it doesn’t specify the level.

“The main reason is the Ohio Constitution prohibits people from using ballot initiatives for setting tax rates,” Haren said. "So we authorize the legislature to impose a tax but we don’t say where it should be.”

The amendment does specify where taxes on recreational sales would go:

25% would go to a special fund for commission on expungement, criminal justice reform, community investment and cannabis industry equity and diversity.

50% would go to the Local Government Fund, with the hope of reversing cuts made to the account during the administration of Gov. John Kasich.

At least 10% would be returned to the municipalities where retail sales are made, sent in proportional amounts based on sales taxes remitted.

A number of the people who are backing recreational marijuana say Ohio’s operation of the medical program is the reason they want less state involvement.

“You add the refusal to add conditions,” Haren said. “Look at the difficulties in advertising that makes it difficult to get information to parents. Look at how confusing the 90 days’ supply is, the way it is tabulated.”

The State Medical Board of Ohio has interpreted Ohio law to mean that once it adds a medical condition for marijuana, the illness cannot be removed if new scientific evidence shows marijuana is ineffective and harmful, even though two lawmakers involved in writing Oho’s medical law have said that was never their intention. Last year, when new conditions were considered, the board rejected them all.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy requires all dispensary press releases and other materials it construes as advertising to be OK’d through its regulators before they can be made public, which the businesses say can take time and prevents open and flexible communication.

Haren said that there is confusion in what constitutes a “90-day supply" of marijuana, and patients have run out of the drug before 90 days, and are unable to get more.

“You start adding all those things up and people started looking around wondering, is this a program that can be reformed? Because it doesn’t seem like the state has any interest in doing that," he said. “Then if it is (reformed), what is the best way to provide access?”

The amendment would also:

Permit people to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, including eight grams, or 0.3 ounces, can be concentrate. Concentrate is the extract from the plant that is put into vape pens, edibles and topical creams.

Allow people to home grow up to six plants, including three that can be flowering.

Put all regulation under the Ohio Department of Commerce. In the medical program, regulation is split among a number of agencies -- commerce, the medical board and the pharmacy board.

Amendment backers say the public and children would be protected if it passed: It would still be illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana, provide it to children and consume it openly or publicly. Private property owners and employers would have the right to prohibit or restrict marijuana.

The amendment faces an uphill climb to get on the ballot.

On Monday afternoon, it submitted paperwork to the Ohio Attorney General’s office, which will review it to ensure the amendment summary is a fair and accurate representation of what it would do. County boards of elections must verify the initial signatures on the proposal, and the Ohio Ballot Board would determine whether the petition only contains one constitutional amendment.

If the proposal can survive those hurdles, petitioners may start collecting signatures across the state. They would need roughly 443,000 valid signatures in 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties.