One of the Democratic candidates for Senate in Ohio is out of step with voters in the state when it comes to a marijuana legalization measure.
Ohio voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure that would have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use by nearly two-to-one. Sixty-five percent of voters opposed the measure, while 35 percent voted in favor of it. The proposed constitutional amendment also would have developed an exclusive network of only 10 marijuana-growing sites.
P.G. Sittenfeld, a Cincinnati city councilman challenging former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland for the Democratic nomination for Senate, offered public support for the marijuana legalization amendment back in May.
"We have a binary choice between do we want to take this opportunity to move forward from the broken laws of the past, and I would vote yes on this opportunity," he told journalists outside the Ohio Statehouse then.
Both Sittenfeld and Strickland have come out in favor of pot legalization. Strickland said Sunday at a stop in Warren that he is in favor of the legalization of marijuana for both medical and recreational use. The former governor’s comments represented somewhat of a departure from his previous statements, as Strickland just months ago remained silent on the topic of legalization for recreational use.
"Medical marijuana, in my judgment, is a no-brainer. It should be legalized. The decriminalization of marijuana should occur," Strickland said on a radio show in March. "We ought not be putting people in jail for choosing to smoke a joint even though some people think that’s the right course of action."
Despite supporting pot legalization, Strickland did express issue with the ballot measure that was voted down Tuesday, particularly because it would have limited the marijuana growing sites.
"If this was a straight marijuana legalization vote, I would vote yes. I am troubled by the monopoly aspect of it," Strickland told reporters Sunday. He never came out for or against the ballot initiative.
In addition to limiting the growing sites, the ballot measure, Issue 3, would have allowed adults in Ohio age 21 and up to use, purchase, and grow specific amounts of marijuana in addition to permitting its use for medical purposes.
Incumbent Sen. Rob Portman (R), who will face either Strickland or Sittenfeld in the 2016 general election, has said that legalizing marijuana in the state would be a step in the "wrong direction" that would send the "wrong message."
"What I support is a whole different approach with regard to drug use, and that is spending less money on the prosecution and incarceration side and more money on prevention and education, which I know works," Portman said in May.
"We should not throw in the towel," he further stated. "Instead, we should be saying to young people, ‘There is a better way for you to have a healthy and productive life, and that’s not to get into drug use and drug abuse.’"
A Quinnipiac University poll released last month showed that Ohio voters favored the legalization of marijuana for recreational use by a small margin.
Neither the Strickland, Sittenfeld, nor Portman campaigns provided the Free Beacon with comment.