Apologies folks! Sent to the wrong list..... But my premise stands!
On Thu, Jul 16, 2015 at 7:36 AM, Warren R. Baltimore II < warrenbaltim...@gmail.com> wrote: > From today's Columbus Dispatch: > *Buying the constitution * > > *Big money, not popular demand, is what drives the marijuana proposal* > > *The haphazard signature-gathering effort by backers of a > marijuana-legalization ballot issue suggests something other than a > grass-roots clamor to bring legalized pot to Ohio.* > > *And the cities and townships where backers of the issue propose to set up > their government-sanctioned-monopoly pot farms don’t seem exactly > enthusiastic about that prospect.* > > *All in all, the lurching campaign effort shows ResponsibleOhio’s proposal > for what it is: a bid to use the mechanics of state government — and, > thereby, voters — to create an insider business opportunity for a handful > of people. The campaign is driven not by popular demand, but by the big > money of the investors who stand to profit.* > > *If a genuine grass-roots group of Ohioans wanted to see marijuana > legalized for medical or recreational use, nothing would stop them from > circulating petitions in support of that effort. But despite > ResponsibleOhio’s complaint that lawmakers have been ignoring a burning > desire for years, that supposed desire hasn’t inspired very many people to > volunteer to pass petitions.* > > *To get the proposed amendment onto the November ballot, the group is > paying people to circulate petitions. To be fair, few groups could muster > the hundreds of thousands of valid signatures needed by using volunteers > alone; many turn to paid circulators. And ResponsibleOhio’s paid > circulators certainly aren’t the first to turn in lots of flawed > signatures.* > > *But, a spot check at county boards of elections shows a remarkably shoddy > effort by ResponsibleOhio’s circulators: As of Friday, major counties were > finding more than half of the signatures invalid for one reason or another. > At this rate, when the counting is done, the group won’t have the 305,591 > valid signatures required to make the ballot, even though it collected more > than double the number. (If that happens, Ohio law allows a 10-day “cure > period” for petitioners to try to get the additional signatures needed.)* > > *In Franklin County, as of Tuesday, only 40 percent of 113,000 signatures > counted so far were valid. About 26,000 people weren’t registered to vote > at the address they listed on the petition; 23,000 weren’t registered at > all. About 7,800 were duplicates and 2,600 were deemed “not genuine."* > > *Circulators with any commitment to the cause they’re pushing, beyond a > per-signature payment, tend to try a lot harder to get valid signatures.* > > *The pushback from communities that stand to host the constitutionally > protected pot farms is more evidence that ResponsibleOhio’s heavy-handed > approach is unwise. If the proposal was simply to make marijuana > cultivation legal, prospective growers might emerge naturally and work with > local officials and residents to win them over.* > > *Instead, ResponsibleOhio’s investors secured rights to properties in 10 > locations around the state and wrote a constitutional amendment that would > give them exclusive rights and hamper local government’s ability to get in > their way.* > > *It’s no wonder Ohioans — those who actually have kept up their voting > registrations and are concerned about their communities — aren’t the ones > driving this self-serving scheme.* > What the editorial board of the Dispatch seem to not understand is a > simple fact.... > > ....If you smoke a lot of dope, you tend to do shit half - assed! > > I refer you to a certain brother who liked to build shit in his room...but > never seemed to finish! > > :-p > > -- > Warren R. Baltimore II > Remedy Developer > 410-533-5367 > -- Warren R. Baltimore II Remedy Developer 410-533-5367 _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org "Where the Answers Are, and have been for 20 years"
