Senators Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond Heights) and Dave Burke (R-Marysville) will host the first stop on their medical marijuana listening tour Saturday, Jan. 30 at Cleveland State University.
Yuko sat down with newsnet5.com to explain the format of the town hall-style meeting, which will begin at 10 a.m. in the Gerald H. Gordon Conference Pavilion of the Wolstein Center.
Medical professionals and members of the law enforcement community are scheduled to discuss the pros and cons of medical marijuana before Yuko and Burke open the floor up to constituents.
Yuko said the team is tasked the with first deciding whether Ohioans want a medical marijuana bill and then what that legislation should say.
“My bill is a blank sheet of paper,” Yuko told newsnet5.com. “It will have my name and Senator Burke’s name on it but the rest will be filled in by the people who come and testify.”
Yuko said residents will also have the option to submit written testimony.
The event is scheduled to end at 3 p.m. but Yuko said he’s willing to stay on site until the last comment is heard.
The formation of a medical marijuana task force in both the House and Senate comes on the heels of the landslide defeat of Ohio’s Issue 3 for legalization of medicinal and recreational marijuana.
A series of polls administered during the campaign gaged support for medicinal marijuana in particular between 70 and 90 percent.
“What we learned is that now Ohioans are largely in favor of medical marijuana,” Yuko said. “I believe an amendment is the way it should be done, rather than a ballot initiative.”
Yuko told newsnet5.com that he’s been a supporter of medical marijuana since 2003, shortly after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
While Yuko said his symptoms are mostly under control, he believes medical marijuana presents life-changing possibilities for many of his constituents who battle conditions that include chronic pain and seizures.
“Once people get educated on that point, I think we’re in good shape,” Yuko said.
Burke, who owns and operators a pharmacy in Marysville, Ohio, has said he believes the topic should remain in the hands of the federal government. But he shares Yuko’s curiosity about the wishes of Ohioans.
“I remain, I guess you would say a skeptic on the issue,” Burke said in a press conference announcing the listening tours on Jan. 19. “But I’m firmly in belief that any process should occur in the General Assembly rather than the Constitution.”
Stops in Toledo and Cincinnati are scheduled following the listening tour stop in Cleveland. Yuko said the dates and times will soon be announced.
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