Free Republic

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Voters in Ohio have approved an initiative to become the 24th state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana, the Associated Press has projected. Issue 2 passed on Tuesday’s ballot to allow adult-use sale, purchase and possession of cannabis for Ohioans who are 21 and older. The measure, effective 30 days after the election, permits adults to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, up to 15 grams of marijuana concentrate and grow up to six plants at home. Those in Ohio who purchase cannabis will pay a 10% excise tax, the same rate as Michigan...

For some reason the 1986 Bangles song "Walk Like an Egyptian" comes to mind, especially the line of "all the cops at the donut shop".

In the elections last night, Ohio voters decisively turned back "Ohio Senate Bill 5", which would have limited the power of the public service unions, and forced union members to pay a significant part of their own health care insurance premiums. Granted it was not as much of a share as the Ohio taxpayer had to fork out for their own coverage, but compared to what the union members had been paying... it was an outrage. The issue was settled by State Issue 2, which was a referendum on the Senate bill. The unions can now celebrate a key win,...

Ohioans might be hearing from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin this weekend as the fierce battle over a controversial labor law enters its home stretch. Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president in 2008, took to her Facebook page Friday to urge support for Issue 2. A yes vote on the Tuesday ballot measure would uphold Senate Bill 5, the GOP-backed overhaul of the state's collective-bargaining system for public employees. "As a proud former union member and the wife, daughter, and sister of union members, I'm encouraging you to learn the facts about Issue 2 in Ohio," Palin wrote in...

But Ohio's private sector is having an especially hard time. While private employer expenditures for employee compensation increased by an inflation-adjusted 4.3 percent from 2000-2010 nationwide, Ohio businesses spent 6.6 percent less on employee compensation in 2010 than they had in 2000. Ohio is one of just five states with negative private-sector compensation growth over the past decade. All five of these economic laggards have something in common: They lack a right-to-work law protecting employees' freedom to refuse to join or pay dues or fees to an unwanted union, without being fired as a consequence. In fact, 13 of the...