The Marijuana Policy Project is lobbying and working with legislators in many states to decriminalize marijuana and legalize marijuana as medicine. What best practices? Marijuana remains an illegal substance under federal law.

It's about time the state of Ohio lets people and there doc use the medicine that maybe will help.

So take a good look at this. Two hunderd grams (7 oz.) work out to roughly 336 joints. If they smoke three joints a day the 200 grams will last 112 days. One plant produces roughly one pound, so at 3 joints a day one pound would last one year. Twelve mature plants about twelve pounds of high quality buds. Where do you think the rest of this weed is going to go. At a low price of $2000 a pound, every poor sick person can make $22,000 bucks selling to the youth of Ohio.

I think it's about time we do something. There are 12 other states that have passed this bill not including Ohio. Believe what you will but this stuff was here before we were and does not hurt anyone who uses it in a passive manner. Statistics for example is what speaks. However, 30 days is the average number that cannabis stays in the male and females bodies. This is where I'm going with this: If I were to get into a car accident, NOT under the influence of cannabis . I will for a fact be counted in what our great state of Ohio calls statistics. Again, believe what you will, but please understand that this plant was found on our soil by man. Not created by man.

It isn't going to matter if Ohio passes the bill. Under federal law marijuana is still illeagal. Here is how it works in the state of Colorado where I live. In Denver County any person age 21 and over may posses up to an ounce of marijuana for their own personal use, medicinal marijuana card or not. However, if you are found to have any amount on your person the Denver police will just detain you untill the Federal Law Enforcement Official can arrive to charge you with a Federal Crime of possesion with the intent to distribute. You can also still be charged with a DUI by local police.

The FEDS should stay out of everyone's business. They are evil to the point of criminal when they force all of us to use the legal drugs; nicotine, alcohol and pharmaceuticals that everyone knows are the real killers of our society and young people... FEDS OFF HEADS!

When we think about marijunana what is it really? Point taken John that the youths today have access to marijunana, they don't need a medical user to get it. Thousands of people can benifit from this. We should pass it. We spend billions of dollors to fight it when good people who are responible users. Anonymous is on the right track in thinking. We live in the 21 century! Let us plant our seeds and choose to use. Not all users smoke. Many inhale the vapors and eat it. Youths who choose to search for a drug will find it, regardless if it is legal or not.

With a possible diagnosis of MS on the horizon and the beginnings of sharp pain radiating to my extremities, the hope for legalized use of medical marijuana is strong. Having an option to use a natural substance as opposed to relying solely on man-made chemically synthesized pain killers is very appealing. It only seems logical that this option should be made available for medical purposes.

According to our own DEA figures, better than 50% of all drug cartel revenue comes from marijuana. Criminizalization of marijuana created this economic engine. Can you imagine what would happen to the drug cartels if it were decriminalized. Loss of 50% of any business revenue is typically fatal for that business. You want to hurt drug cartels - decriminalize marijuana. A totally exceptable trade-off.

Interestingly, 'natural' not man-made marijuana has 421 chemicals in it's natural state, greater than 2000 when smoked, 81 of which are known carcinogens. I am not opposed to the decriminalization of marijuana, but let us not forget...this is a drug we are talking about. It has significant side effects and risks, and should be treated with caution and accurate education. Of all those chemicals in marijuana, only one supplies the high, and research shows that even in the most controlled environments, it is not possible to achieve a consistent amount of THC per plant...making it very difficult to regulate. Mj is not the pantacea to all the ills and pains out there. However, despite that, I would like to see it decriminalized, and one would have to be educated on the risks, licensed to smoke, only allowed to get high in marijuana 'bars' and not allowed to drive unless you can prove yourself competent with a coordination test...Oh yeah, and we could tax the ___ out of it to fund prevention education.

I say good for us all that have debilitating disease's in ohio!I just know it works as medicine because i have been using it as medicine my self for my multiple sclerosis and no more pill popping that does not do nothing for my disease,just makes me broker and broker, thank you tonya, bobngayle

I have taken a strong stance for the decriminalization of marijuana. It's quite similar to prohibition. Prohibition was used in the 1920-1933 to stop the use, sale, and manufacturing of alcohol. But was this successful? No. Are the marijuana laws we have now successful? No. It's easy to obtain, and according to studies 11 million people in the U.S alone use on a regular basis. The government really should step back and take a look at the big picture. Marijuana laws are not working! The solution? Decriminalize it. Regardless of the laws against it, real users are going to use no matter what. Think about the 800 and some-odd thousand people who were arrested for marijuana possession and paraphenalia; this is costing the tax-payers hundreds of millions of dollars a year to keep non-violent marijuana users in jail. Then it becomes a revolving door process. It has been proven that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco-both legal substances. On top of that, it is physically impossible to overdose on marijuana, yet hundreds of thousands of deaths are linked to tobacco use and alcohol poisoning every year. We as the constituents need to work together to decriminalize.

Im a former Marine and I served in Iraq. I suffer from PTSD and I'm on five different medications for sleep disorders,depression and anxiety. Marijuana helps better than any medication the VA has ever given me. I hope they wise up and see it helps people more than it huts them.

As a multiple Sclerosis / Seizure patient i say the goverment should have no right on how we treat ourselves!I have tried all the legal ways to feel better but just got sicker and sicker so i say let us people whom marijuana helps have the right to use it as we please whether it be by eating or smoking the earb!I for one can say im living proof it works!

As an ohio resident I say (medical marijuana) should be legalized for everyone that it helps with their chronic disease!WE wanna feel better than the shit pills we are given by our doctors that don't do anything for us except bring on more problems for us!Like being broke and having to suffer even more without compassion for us!I have seen everyone that are taking these drugs from the doctors & just don't want any part of it! I say its time for ohio to join the other (13)states who have some bit of compassion for its citizens Now im getting pissed that (ohio) lawmakers don't care about no one!!!!!!! So prove me wrong because im living proof it works as my medicine ,so legalize medical marijuana already because some of us can not wait any longer!!! Thank You,Robert Lee

As a multiple sclerosis/seizure patient i say marijuana is the only medicine that works to tone down on the spasms,relax my muscles,helps with my double vision that i have had since 1995 ,tones down my bladder so please legalize medical marijuana not only in ohio but all 50 states in the usa!!

Ohio patients deserve safe access to a medicine thats been known and used for over 5000 years. This program would be ran and supervised by the Ohio Dept of Health and Agriculture and linked in to local law enforcement agencies to try to monitor the participants of said program. You would have to get a doctor to say you could participate then jump through the rest of the hurdles before you could qualify.

i'm 28 and i broke my back 4 years ago. i have been in constant cronic pain since. no doctor will give me pain pills because "i'm too young". instead they tell me to suffer until i'm 50. then, when i tell them the TRUTH that i self medicate because no one will help me, i get judged. i want the doctors i deal with to walk in my shoes for one day. be in constant throbbing pain and get told to live with it. get told at 28 to live like an invalid and deal with it. then i'd like see what they do to relieve the pain. they don't look twice if i tell them i get vicodin or percoset from friends or family. but they judge me for marijuana. in my eyes, that's just wrong. i'm a healthcare statistic because doctors in ohio don't give a d**n about fulfilling their hypocratic oath.

I have a barrage of medical problems, most that qualify me for medicinal marijuana under other state guidelines. I am all for decriminalizing marijuana. It will be cheaper buying it, than the present catalogue of narcotics and such that I depend on now, just to make it through the day.

As a person who has seizure disorders and sleep insomnia marijuana helps me out alot. Since I started smoking marijuana it helped me stop having bad seizures all the time to having very few big seizures. Marijuana has been used as a medicine thousands of years ago. And marijuana is alot better than taking all those pills that the doctors give you. And they say marijuana is the gateway to all other drugs thats a bunch of BS. And what about the pills the doctors give you their more addicting than marijuana. Just take a good look in the news how all these people addicted to pills go around and rob all these drug stores and pharmacys for their ADDICTION to PILLS.

Greetings I am a retired Police Officer, having worked on a nartics task force,one would think I would be against legal marijuana. I am NOT AGAINST IT. I WAS DX'D WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS in 1993. I take $2300.00 in perscriptions but nothing takes away the burning and pain in my legs as does smoking marijuana. The trouble is I have to buy ilt on the street. I have been ripped off several times. I'm on a fixed income of $700.00 a month. If not ripped off outright, I have to pay $350.00 for an oz. of decent pot but it is loaded with stems and only lasts a bit over a week. It has to be made legal here in ohio so the problems of being ripped off, beaten up and/or busted are nolonger a problem. Can I PLEASE GET SOME HELP!!! With Respect Jeffrey A Miller

To John from Oceanside... using your logic, you have testicles so it's possible that you could overpopulate the world with useless eaters therefor we should have a law to have your testicles removed. Decriminalize medical marijuana and it will cause the users to illegally sell it to our children? SHAME! Using children to scare the ignorant is the lowest form of witch hunting, you should be ashamed of yourself. Normally, I would ignore your fear mongering, but there are people reading this who believe the lies people like you spread because they are too afraid to try marijuana and find out the truth for themselves. There is no such thing as "reefer madness", users don't die, jump out windows or murder their families. Used, and not abused, it can do good things for those it can help. Do you enjoy seeing others suffer that don't need to? If so, we all pray that you are among a very small minority.

I think it would a great idea to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in Ohio,allowing ill patients and people that suffer from pain and depression as well as bi-polar diseases. I myself have taken medication for my ADHD when i was young.i was never happy,always down and depressed to the point where i felt there was no reason to live,even while i was on Zoloft,Prozac(pill and liquid).i had went to the a Psychotrists for my episodes and mood swings.my psychotrists had told me i was suffering from Dysthemia,severe Depression,and Intermentive Explosive Disorder.i was placed on Lexapro,Celexa and Seriquell where i always felt down no matter what. I feel that smoking Mariuana for me might be illegal,but i have been smoking since i quit taking my medications.Smoking Marijuana has helped me remarkably with my thoughts as well as my perspective on life.I feel that it has opened a whole new door for me and i have nver felt better.I feel that people who suffer from the same or similar symptoms and diseases,could have a huge differance on themselves and life as well,if marijuana were to be LEGAL.

i am so tired of being discriminated by my own doctor bcuz of my useage. i have chronic back pain, an afo on left foot due to my back pain i use a cane i have tendionitst in both hands. i dont abuse alcohol, or any illegal drug ANY. they put me on perscription pills but if i test positive im right back off my perscriptions, then go through withdrawls, have to find another dr. until im tested again, to me if i cant smoke a joint to help me go to sleep or an hour or too. oh no cant do that. take more pills, i dont want too. i want to relax get some sleep. it helps me, oh yeah i almost died from duragesic patch. dropped 40lbs, couldnt drink anything or eat for 2 weeks the only way to eat again and learn how to chew and swallow was to get the muchies from smoking weed. i guess shame on me for trying to live.

To corret the dude that said one plant produces a pound, indoor marijuana will hardly produce a third of that. And for all of those who call it a drug it's not, perscibed medications and those produced by the government are drugs, marijuana is a plant that used in natural form causes intoxication, drugs are made not grown. For all who hate on cannabis you need to update your thinking and realize that people have used cannabis for as long as we've made hemp ropes and other materials. Even in religius doctrines around the world it is revered as a gift from god. It's prohibition came about due to racists views by people whom never were properly introduced to it properly. If it were legalized it would be possible to cut off the pipelines of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin, being that these drugs are also sought by people with drug seeking behavior who also smoke pot. The sea needs to focus on what causes harm not marijuana which induces passivity

Marijuana has helped me a lot in my life. I have diabetes and fibromyalgia. My body hurts all over from the fibromyalgia.My blood sugar was so good when i was smoking it. I didn't hurt that much eiher. I have quit smoking in the last 4 months and my sugar is out of control and my body hurts more than it has in the 15 years I smoked. It also relieved my stress and now I don't know how to relieve my stress. If I didn't need this job I would be smokin everyday.It is not a drug it is naturally grown and it should be legal.I am not a pill taker and I tell the doctors not to give me narcotics because I don't want to get addicted to them.I have smoked marijuana for 15 years and I quit with no problem at all. The only problem is now the pain and out of control diabetes.

i have smoked marajauna for over 20 years i have a medical condition in my back i cant take pain killers im allergic marajauna is the only thing that relaxes the muscles in my back ive had doctors tell me off the record continue to smoke but that cant subscribe it to me now i have a charge of a minor misdeameanor possession and because of this charge ive lost my management job and now unemployed please help legalize medical marajauna so this dont happen to anyone else

How many of you who are against the legalization of weed take a bunch of prescription medicines? This nation doesn't have a problem propping up the profits of these huge pharmaceutical companies, but is against someone smoking a natural herb? How silly is that?

I have smoked the weed for over 55 yrs, never used any other drugs. legalize it for every one that smoke. Take the profit out of the mix by allowing people to decide for themselves if they want it. Let freedom ring, and get government out of people's live. they created the problem in the first place.

Most overcrowding of our legal systems is from non violent crime.If you you kill violently you do about 5 to 10 years.But if you get high on something that grows wild and is not even manufactured you do life.Does that sound fair.Next we will be going to jail for growing a vegetable garden.Freeze is that an ear of corn in you hand!

Count your Blessings OHIOINS, We are a boardering canadian state We WILL have the law passed for Medical Cannabis sooner or later (notice that almost every other state has passed MMJ!)For those of you that suffer from ADD,ADHD,Anxiety,insomnia etc You will NEVER get a Recomendation in ohio(Only California gives out MMJ for mental problems. I am a MMJ user in Ohio who is also a Veteran with PTSD but ohio lawmakers will say no to a vet with PTSD HMMM i serve my country but get crapped on by our docs and feds. Thank god i had a parachute accident in the army that left me with severe Nerve damage all over my legs and back or i might not even Qualify! Thats B.S. that you have to be DYING to get MMJ, Its Just not fair to say someone who benafits from MMJ Can't get a recomendation!

I think they should legalize it for people like me that is living m.s. They look at marijuana like its an hard drug and some of us need it to help with pain and side effects from medications that we take. Me i smoke to relive pain and to help stop muscle spasms that i have everyday . U tell them u smoke weed they look at you like you are a crack head and that is not fair at all. They rather have you take medication that have all these side effects and down the line u have more medical problems. Its funny more people die from drinking and smoking cigarettes but they sell to us but will not let us have something that's natural from the ground that a lot of people like me can benefit from

We as a country are not truely Free or we would have the choice to consume whatever substance,Be it bad or good!.The United States truley lost our Freedom in 1914, when politicians decided what was in their opinion what is bad for you and what is good for you instead of giving the people a choice to vote on such issues.Time to Stand up 4 Freedom "Legalize Marijuana and All Marijuana Dirivatives,to help cure sick people who Believe in Marijuana's Healing Properties. Peace To All Mankind.

it's been around. it's here. and it's not going anywhere. legal or illegal. the risk factor is so low compared to a wide range of things. it's natures super plant on a social, medical, mental, and many other levels. legalize it.

I suffer debilitating migrains and pains from stress and anxiety. I choose not to take the man made chemicals as prescribed by my doctor due to the side-effects that I get from them. Once I used marijuana, VIA a vaporizor, not smoking it, I was surprised at the many positives that came from it. No real side-effects. I do not even get the so-called munchies. As a persion of religion, everyone knows that in the bible it states, "God gave us every seed bearing plant and herb to use". Then I look at a dollar bill and it says, "In God We Trust". If that were the case this would not be an issue. Ohio needs to realize the positives that would come from marijuana decriminalization. As some said it would kill the cartels profit margin from the loss in income. We could definetly do without cartel run organizations in Ohio.

The founding fathers of America smoked it and use it to make clothes, paper and other products. It has alway been a good holistic herb better than tobacco. You never heard a person to die from cancer when using it. Some people would say ooh the children will use it however, the right upbringing kids will stay away from harmful things. The prohibition didn't stop the use and production of alcohol and it became legalized. Therefore, maybe cannibas will replace tobacco with no harmful side effects. To get rid of monopoly it has to be deregulated and legalization will stop the world problem with the drug cartel. Sometime the government needs to be govern and give up the fiduciary duties back to the "We the People".

After the last 7 years of multiple procedures of neck and back epidurals, 4 different kinds of pain medications, unable to work at 50 years old, i would love the chance to see if this would help my arthritis. What can i do in Ohio?

I think marijuana should legal for pain for people who need it.I have serve scolosis and i have pain all the time.I do take pain pills but they dont help marijuana helps me sleep and to calm my pain down.It very nice to have relief.Im from ohio they should legalize it.I no alot of people who do they marijuana instaed of taking pills because the marijuana better for pain.they dont spend the money you do to buy pills for pain.It allso helps you sleep to.So marijuana should be legalize.If it is people who have it should not be bothered by the police officers.

Talk to any of the cancer patients I know. Thier Doctors tell them to smoke it regardless of the laws, and are even willing and somewhat anxious to testify in court as to its PROVEN medicinal value. It was made illeagal back in 1937 thanks to Hearst paper and DuPont. Check out some of it's other legal uses also. Henry Ford made a car out of the stuff that was also fueled by hemp. IT's been used for sales and ropes on early ships, was widley traded in the early colonies, and grown by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.