GROUP SEEKS SECOND MEDICAL-MARIJUANA ISSUE FOR BALLOT

Backers of a second medical-marijuana amendment will file language
with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today, hoping to get their
issue on the November statewide ballot.

The Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment of 2012, accompanied by nearly
3,000 signatures, will be submitted to DeWine to review the language
summarizing the proposal, said Theresa Daniello, a supporter of the
nonpartisan group that includes many patients seeking pain relief for
medical conditions.

The proposed language argues that Ohioans have "inalienable rights"
under the Ohio Constitution, including the right to "be eligible to
use cannabis as medicine as a result of a diagnosed debilitating
medical condition." The issue would establish an Ohio Commission of
Cannabis Control to regulate medical cannabis in Ohio.

The group's first proposal was rejected by DeWine last year because it
did not fairly summarize the proposal.

If DeWine approves the language this time - and Secretary of State Jon
Husted certifies that it has valid signatures from at least 1,000
registered Ohio voters - the issue will go to the Ohio Ballot Board.
Approval there would allow supporters to begin collecting the 385,245
signatures needed to qualify for the fall ballot as a constitutional
amendment.

In October, the Ballot Board approved a competing proposal, the Ohio
Alternative Treatment Amendment. It would allow qualified medical
practitioners to prescribe marijuana for patients at least 18 years
old with a "qualifying medical condition." Patients could obtain up to
3.5 ounces of marijuana at a time and could cultivate up to 12
marijuana plants.

The differences between the two proposals are not readily apparent
since both would allow use of marijuana for specified medical
conditions such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, HIV and AIDS,
post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle-cell anemia, glaucoma and other
diseases. But Daniello said the two sides cannot reach agreement and
both decided to move ahead independently.

"We believe in democracy," she said. "Having multiple choices out
there is very important."

Jessica Knight, a college student from Cincinnati and member of
Daniello's coalition who suffers from a rare chronic joint disease,
said she and other patients "view this as only the first essential
step.

"In November, Ohio constituents must come together and not think about
their political association, yet about the patients who, with the help
of Ohio voters, can finally have access to a safe and effective
natural medicine that is less toxic than many of the drugs that
physicians prescribe everyday," Knight said.

Sixteen states plus the District of Columbia have some form of medical
marijuana law.

Information about the Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment of 2012 is
available online at www.omca2012.org.

Information about the Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment is at
www.ohiommjballot.org/hometop.html.