Ohio Alt-Weekly ‘Can’t Locate’ Anyone to Argue Against Legal Weed

The Dayton City Paper, an alt-weekly out
of Dayton, Ohio, recently ran a “debate”
on marijuana legalization. On one side of the page, a
DCP staffer argued in favor of Ohio moving to
legalize. The other side of the page was mostly blank. 

An editor’s note on the anti-legalization side of the page says,
“On behalf of the Dayton City Paper staff, we apologize, but we
were unable to locate a debate writer who was able to submit a view
opposed to the legalization of marijuana in Ohio at this
time.” 

The paper’s plan had been to have another staff writer make an
anti-legalization argument. But a scheduling mistake prevented the
one staffer amenable to writing against legalization from filing on
time. Rather than scrap the debate—a weekly staple in the paper and
one of its most popular features—the publishers decided to have fun
with it. 

Clearly, the paper could have found a writer,
if not necessarily a staffer, to take the opposing side were time
constraints not an issue. But they were. DCP Publisher
Paul Noah points out that the editorial note merely says they
couldn’t locate someone in time. 

“We’re making a statement in a playful way,” says Noah, a
supporter of legalizaiton efforts like Colorado’s.

Not even medical marijuana is currently legal in Ohio. Three
medical marijuana amendments have had language approved by the
attorney general and the Ohio Ballot Board, but campaigners have
been unable to collect enough signatures to get these on the
ballot.

In 2013, State Rep. Bob Hagan (D-Youngstown)
introduced legislation that would allow people to grow
marijuana for medicinal use or designate a caregiver to grow it for
them, a proposal similar to existing laws in 20 states and the
District of Columbia. But after an initial May 2013 committee
hearing, there’s been no action on Hagan’s
bill. Hagan also introduced a measure to legalize, tax, and
regulate recreational marijuana, but it has met a similar
fate. 

According to a
poll released in March, 87 percent of Ohioans (including 78
percent of Republicans) think medical marijuana should be legal.
And a slight majority (51 percent) support legalizing small amounts
for personal recreational use. “Is it time?” as the Dayton City
Paper recently asked. It seems like the answer’s inching
closer to yes.