Gov. John Kasich signs medical marijuana bill into law
By Jackie Borchardt
June 08, 2016
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With little fanfare, Gov. John Kasich on Wednesday signed a law creating a strictly regulated medical marijuana program.
Kasich's communications team announced the signing without any comment, simply including it in a list with several other bills the governor also signed Wednesday.
The new law goes into effect 90 days after the bill is officially filed with the secretary of state, making the marijuana legal sometime in early September.
At that time, patients will have an "affirmative defense" against prosecution for marijuana possession charges if they have written permission from their doctor to use marijuana in a form allowed under the law. It could be a year or more until Ohioans can walk into a dispensary and buy medical marijuana.
Kasich forewent a public signing ceremony, opting to ink the bill with dozens of others late Wednesday afternoon.
Kasich opposed last year's recreational marijuana measure and said at the time that medical marijuana wasn't the answer for Ohioans suffering untreatable seizures and other debilitating diseases. His position on medical marijuana softened while campaigning to be the GOP's presidential nominee, saying he'd look at the issue.
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