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A tsunami of green is going to hit Ohio — big green waves of cash — if marijuana is legalized,
advocates say.
“There’s enough money in this for everybody,”
ResponsibleOhio investor Alan Mooney says in a YouTube video promoting his Ohio
Cannabis Institute.
Mooney, an entrepreneur and licensed minister who uses “Sir” with his name because of an
honorary designation by Pope Benedict XVI, calls marijuana a “miracle plant” and “a gift from
God."
But opponents say the effect would be devastation, not salvation.
“The downsides far outweigh any promise of job creation,” said Roger Geiger, executive director
of the 25,000-member National Federation of Business Ohio. “We’re going to flood this state with
opportunities to get high.”
Ohioans will vote on Nov. 3 on a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for recreational
use by those age 21 or older and medicinal use with a doctor’s order.
Commercial cultivation of
marijuana would be limited to 10 wealthy investment groups that are pumping $28 million into the
campaign. There also would be processing operations, 1,150 retail shops and medical dispensaries.
Individuals could grow as many as four flowering plants apiece.
A major part of the pot pitch by ResponsibleOhio, the group backing the for-profit plan, is
economic: as many as 35,000 new jobs, billions of dollars in sales and a tax windfall for local
governments.
“Marijuana & Ohio, Past, Present, Potential,” a report released this year by a task force
established by Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, used figures from ResponsibleOhio and the
widely respected IMPLAN analysis methodology to come up with annual economic-impact estimates if
State Issue 3 passes.
• Marijuana growers would sell $1.1 billion, processors $726 million and retailers $2.23 billion
in products when the market is “mature” in about three years.
• Cultivation would create 5,863 direct and indirect jobs; refining and edibles production 3,393
jobs; medical dispensaries about 1,000 jobs; and retail sales, 24,564 jobs. Total job creation:
35,000, with a combined income of $1.6 billion a year.
• Tax revenue generated for local governments would be $554 million.
Colorado legalized marijuana in 2012, and while sales and tax revenue are increasing, they still
remain below original estimates.
Though some in the Ohio business community have reservations, other entrepreneurs are eager to
get rolling in the marijuana business.
Marijuana Business Daily, a national online publication, estimates it would be about a $10
billion-a-year business immediately but triple that in four years.
The Columbus chapter of Women Grow, a national network of female cannabis entrepreneurs, held
its fifth monthly meeting here last week. The national group started last year in Colorado and now
has 30 affiliates across the country.
Lissa Satori, the founder of the local group, said it has no position on Issue 3. However, she
said legalization of marijuana in general “creates great opportunities, and we want women to be in
position to take advantage of it.”
Mooney’s Ohio Cannabis Institute spelled out what he sees as jobs opportunities in “The Tsunami
Report” released this month.
He says economic opportunities would be created in three waves. The first wave would be growing
and manufacturing, retail stores, pot-testing facilities and cannabis products and accessories.
The second wave, Mooney said, would be jobs in trucking and delivery, legal and security
services, marketing, real estate and office products.
He labels the third wave “out-of-the-shadow careers,” such as “budtender” (the marijuana version
of a coffee barista), edibles creator, tourism and administration.
Geiger’s small-business group, which is closely watching the Responsible Ohio campaign, polled
its members and found they oppose Issue 3 by 3-to-1, despite the promise of thousands of jobs, many
of which would be in small businesses.
Geiger thinks the job-creation numbers are suspect, but even if they turned out to be accurate,
there are many downsides for business, including the cost of drug testing and liability for drug
use on the job.
“The No. 1 reason our members are saying they cannot hire someone right now is they cannot pass
a drug test. This is only going to complicate that.
“I don’t care how many jobs you create, it’s not worth the life of somebody getting run over by
someone on a forklift,” he said.
Further, Geiger said, small-business owners “deeply resent that now, for the second time, we’re
going to bastardize the constitution so a handful of individuals can become billionaires. This just
flies in the face of our free-enterprise system.”
Businesses are still stinging from the gambling monopoly granted to four casinos through a
constitutional amendment in 2009.
Geiger said owners are also concerned that adding marijuana shops would disturb the flavor of “
family business” in neighborhoods.
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