Move over Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska; Ohio could be the next state to vote to legalize marijuana production, sale, and use this year. The pro-legalization group Responsible Ohio recently revealed some of the details of their campaign for a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.

It is encouraging to see the people of yet another state pursue an end to the destructive policy of marijuana prohibition. However, the proposal is not without flaws. If the amendment passes later this year, marijuana would be legal, but also would become a highly regulated industry.

The Dayton Daily News reports on the proposal released by Responsible Ohio:

– 10 legal growing locations that are at least 1,000-feet from schools, day care centers, churches or libraries; – A seven-member Marijuana Control Commission to regulate growing, sales, distribution, licensing and taxing of pot products; – 5 marijuana testing facilities to check potency and safety; – Not-for-profit medical marijuana dispensaries for patients with debilitating medical conditions who could buy pot at wholesale prices; and – A 15 percent flat tax on pot sales with 85 percent of the tax revenue going to local governments for services. Responsible Ohio calls its proposal a common sense approach to public policy.

Will there ever be a state that simply legalizes marijuana? Don’t get me wrong, turning the marijuana trade into a cartelized industry is better than locking people in jail for possessing or ingesting a plant, but there is much room to improve.

The most unfortunate part of the proposal is the taxation. It’s sad that so many pro-marijuana advocates have leaned on the tax generation crutch in order to garner support for legalization, rather than taking the moral stance that the government has no right to dictate what an individual puts into their body.

Some rather strange aspects of the legislation are the Marijuana Control Commission and the five marijuana testing agencies to check potency and safety. What makes the seven people chosen to be on the Commission qualified to determine proper regulation for marijuana growing, sales, distribution, licensing, and taxing? If the state government outlaws certain potencies of marijuana, won’t the black market step in and meet the demand, putting us right back where we started where a government is prohibiting the use of a plant?

Of course, none of these bureaucrats know the most efficient or cost-effect way to grow, sell or distribute marijuana. Only the market can determine the price points that are profitable for growing, selling, and distributing marijuana. And the only way to determine these price points is by making it legal, without strings attached.

It’s great that Ohio is taking a small step in the direction towards legalization, but I look forward to the day people reject intervention from coercive governments into the marketplace not just for marijuana, but for all goods and services.

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