Today is Election Day. This means in Ohio a.k.a. Bro-hio, millions of registered voters going to the polls to vote on Issue 3, a ballot initiative that would legalize the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana in the Buckeye State. Here’s the thing: The legalization of weed in Ohio could also LINE the pockets of Ohio resident Nick Lachey a.k.a the lead singer of boy band 98 Degrees and former husband to Jessica Simpson.
Apparently Lachey bought into an ownership group of legal marijuana farms that will control the quality and potency of all legal marijuana in Ohio. It’s basically creating a oligopoly for legal weed in the state, Via a Washington Post profile about the situation:
The owners of those farms? A random bunch, including Lachey, designer Nanette Lepore, NBA legend Oscar Robertson, NFL journeyman Frostee Rucker, a pair of President William Howard Taft’s great-great-grandnephews and twenty-some others — who, not coincidentally, are the same folks bankrolling the campaign, and stand to become very, very wealthy if the measure passes.
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Each ownership group was asked to put up an initial $4 million to underwrite the ballot campaign; it cost them an estimated $10 million more to buy land and get their farms up and running. Lachey’s piece of the action would be 29 acres just outside of Akron, which he would co-own with a couple of financial executives and a car dealership owner from Texas. Every one of the 1,100 state-regulated marijuana retail shops across Ohio will have no choice but to buy from his or one of the other nine farms.
Within four years, according to one study, it is estimated that those 10 farms would be selling $1.1 billion worth of pot every year.
Good for him. Being a billionaire legal weed kingpin 10 years after everyone has basically forgotten about you is one of the best comeback moves of all time. Plus, I have to imagine the royalty checks for “I Do” and “Because Of You” aren’t as strong as they once were. But this is all pending the vote of Issue 3, which might become somewhat of a ligation clusterfuck since it creates a legal monopoly on the supply-side of the business, which is a business no-no here in America. Via Market Watch:
ResponsibleOhio, the political-action committee funding Issue 3, says the limited rights to production is intended to “control the quality and potency of products,” according to a statement. The initiative would require dispensaries to sell products from the approved production facilities, and would limit the number of stores to one for every 10,000 Ohio citizens.
The initiative proposes to amend the state constitution to allow for the consolidation of the industry to a few select parties, says Dan Tierney, a spokesman for state Attorney General Mike DeWine. To combat the potential constitutional allowance for oligopoly, state legislators have proposed Issue 2, which would allow the Ohio Ballot Board to regulate initiatives that would grant monopolistic power. Issue 2 will also be decided on Tuesday.
Get out and vote, Bro-hio. Nick Lachey’s needs you love for getting blazed without the fear of Johnny Law to line his pockets.
Hope you’re heading to the polls this tomorrow! If you’re in #Ohio and want to end marijuana prohibition: #NoOn2 #YesOn3. @Yeson3Ohio
— Nick Lachey (@NickLachey) November 3, 2015
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Perfect stoner music:
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