VAN WERT, Ohio (WANE) — On Dec. 7, Ohio Issue 2 officially went into effect after Ohioans voted in favor of the proposal in November.
The proposal, which legalized the use of recreational marijuana seven years after the state legalized medicinal use, allows Ohio residents age 21 or older to consume recreational marijuana and grow up to six plants.
With the recent legalization and the looming possibility state legislators could make notable changes to the current iteration of Issue 2, law enforcement agencies in northwest Ohio are taking a wait-and-see approach to determine how to approach the new laws.
“Once everything is finalized, we will get something put together probably with the [Van Wert County] Prosecutor’s Office or the [Van Wert] Law Director’s office to give us some extra training,” said Douglas Weigle, Chief of Police for the Van Wert Police Department.
Van Wert County represented one of dozens of Ohio counties that voted against Issue 2, but Chief Weigle said marijuana use is far from uncommon.
“I think that there [are] more people that do it than you know,” Chief Weigle said. “It’s going to be out there, and the voters have spoken, so we’ll do whatever is in the laws.”
Paulding County Sheriff Jason Landers said the new laws will require adjustments from both citizens and law enforcement.
“It’s going to be tough for staff,” Sheriff Landers said. “For everyone’s career here — no matter if you’ve been here as long as I have or if you’re my newest patrol deputy — it’s always been illegal, and when you smell it, everything goes up and you want to go find it and seize it and you hold people accountable to doing that. Well, now we’re going to have to get used to the fact that our citizens 21 and over can possess it.”
Sheriff Landers also said Paulding County has not prosecuted a misdemeanor marijuana possession charged in a few years due to inadequate testing procedures making it difficult to determine the difference in THC levels between marijuana and hemp, which has been legal in Ohio for years.
Although Paulding County authorities have not prosecuted misdemeanor marijuana charges in a few years, authorities still seized recreational marijuana in all cases prior to Dec. 7.
Both Chief Weigle and Sheriff Landers told WANE 15 they understand marijuana is here to stay, but they also said they hope citizens understand the laws and be respectful of others.
“The one thing I really don’t want to see is people walking down the street smoking it where people can smell it,” Chief Weigle said. “That’s something I think is going to agitate other people, and I don’t believe people should be going straight down Main Street smoking marijuana, so we will enforce that portion of the law where you can’t smoke out in public.”
Sheriff Landers also said he hopes any changes state legislators plan to make happen soon so Ohioans do not become confused.
“We [had] to change Dec. 7 to the way the law changed, and then the legislature could change it again and we’ll have to adapt to what that is,” Sheriff Landers said. “It just causes a lot of confusion to the citizens, and it causes a lot of confusion to law enforcement that’s tasked with enforcing the laws that they pass.”
Defiance, Mercer, Paulding, Van Wert and Williams counties all voted against Issue 2, but Issue 2 still passed statewide after garnering 57% of the vote.
Currently, Ohio does not have any dispensaries where residents can legally purchase marijuana.