As Ohio lawmakers face public pushback over legislation that would make sweeping changes to the state marijuana law approved by voters in 2023, one legal scholar says the state Constitution could ultimately limit how drastic those adjustments could be.
“When you look closely at the text, the structure and the history of the Ohio Constitution’s statutory initiative provision, it strongly suggests that the Constitution places real limits on the General Assembly’s power to alter initiated laws,” Derek Clinger, a staff attorney at the University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative, said at a webinar Tuesday.
“Now, to be clear, I don’t think the Constitution completely prohibits the legislature from making changes,” Clinger added, “though I actually think there’s a better argument for that position than for the one that says the lawmakers have complete discretion to change initiatives.”
Clinger’s comments were part of an online talk hosted by Ohio State University law school’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, titled (Un)Checked Power of the Ohio General Assembly: Can Legislators Override Voters’ Will on Marijuana Reform? In it, speakers described how legislative efforts this session have sought to undercut many of the provisions passed by voters in the state’s 2023
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