Ohio's Marijuana Legalization Campaign Died a Humiliating Death at the Polls

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That faint sound you hear in the distance is Nick Lachey sobbing.

Issue 3, a proposed Ohio constitutional amendment under which recreational marijuana would be legalized, was soundly rejected by voters. Clobbered, 65–35. Its failure marks the end of a contentious campaign that saw even some marijuana advocates coming out against the state's proposed legalization scheme.

What made Issue 3 so controversial were provisions that would only grant growing rights to ten already-picked addresses, effectively handing over control of the industry to a set of rich investors, including Lachey. That kinda buckeye had opponents throwing around the term "monopoly" during the campaign (the proposed system would actually be an oligopoly), and made drug legalization advocates leery of fully endorsing Issue 3.

Another issue was that Ohio hasn't even legalized medical marijuana as an intermediate step, which may have made undecided voters nervous. There are a whole host of other reasons Issue 3 died a humiliating death yesterday at the hands of Ohio voters. But not one of them had anything to do with pot oligopoly mascot Buddie, who was cool and not at all a bad idea. RIP Buddie.