Leaders clear air on their views on pot

COLUMBUS - Ohio's top law enforcer this week said the federal government should reclassify marijuana to allow for more thorough research before state officials consider full legalization.

Four statewide leaders, all of them Republicans in their first terms, were asked this week at an Associated Press forum if they believe marijuana should be fully legalized. Only medical marijuana is permitted by state law.

State Attorney General David Yost, the only panelist who admitted to using marijuana decades ago, said officials ought to be more thoughtful about the question.

"The fact of the matter is we don't have very much good information, and there's a reason for that. The medical research is spotty," Yost told reporters. "It's very difficult to get approval to do these (research) things, so I don't support (full legalization)."

Yost cited recent literature linking heavy marijuana use as a possible risk factor for schizophrenia, a notion he finds deeply concerning.

"What I do support is that the federal government should use the existing process and law to reschedule marijuana from a schedule 1 drug, which has no medical use, to a schedule 2, which does have medical uses and will put it on par with other pharmaceuticals," he said.

Reclassifying the drug would make it easier for researchers to perform rigorous, peer-reviewed studies that would provide the kind of data necessary for a well-informed debate on the matter, he said.

"I do not want to have to look back at my grandchildren 20 years from now when there is a causal link between marijuana use and schizophrenia and we have a health-care crisis on our hands with schizophrenia and say, 'Gosh, it seemed like the thing to do at the time,' " Yost said.

State Auditor Keith Faber of Celina said he harbors great concerns about recreational marijuana.

"Candidly the concerns continue to be bolstered the more and more I hear the information and research," Faber said, citing an article showing relationships between "mental-type disorders and aggression and marijuana use."

Ultimately, the state Legislature is where the issue should be debated, considered and acted upon, he said.

Treasurer Robert Sprague spoke against marijuana in a broad sense.

"My views on marijuana have not changed since I was in the General Assembly," Sprague said. "I have five children. I'm concerned about the addictive potential of marijuana, and I did not support the bill as it moved through the General Assembly for medical marijuana, primarily because I'm concerned about 35 percent THC level, which I view as posing a real addiction problem."

Later, while responding to a question about the potential legalization of industrial hemp, Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko, a Democrat, said his top priority is seeing that the state's medical marijuana program is fully implemented.

The program was supposed to have been fully running in September, he said. He acknowledged the demand from families across the state.

"We've heard from these people. They want the product," Yuko said. "Their kids are suffering from seizures, as many as 50, 75, 100 seizures every single day. We know that the next seizure could cause permanent brain damage or death."

Earlier this month The Associated Press reported that 68 pounds of medical marijuana have been sold since a handful of dispensaries opened in the state in mid-January. Around a half-dozen of the 56 dispensaries granted licenses have opened thus far.

Ohio law allows physicians to issue recommendations to patients with one of the state's 21 qualifying medical conditions. Only plant materials, known as flowers or buds, are being sold at this point. Products such as edibles, tinctures and lotions won't be available until cannabis processing facilities are operating.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy says 17,000 people have received recommendations to buy medical pot.

Commerce Department official Mark Hamlin said other cannabis products should be ready for sale in March.

- The Associated Press contributed of this story