Some long time advocates of medical marijuana are questioning why they were not included in the Ohio House's new task force to study the subject. 

Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports.

ResponsibleOhio, the group that pushed to legalize marijuana in Ohio, has disbanded. 

The organization's announcement comes with a big shift in the fight to make pot legal. The group gathered more than 30,000 signatures to get its initiative to legalize medical marijuana and recreational pot use. Last November, voters decided against the plan.

After more than a $20 million effort, co-founder Jimmy Gould of ResponsibleOhio announced he is backing down.

Ohio state representative Kirk Shuring introduced this task force, and will lead it.

He said he is not 100 percent sure of what the task force may find.

“If I started to suggest what the outcome might be, I think it would be a violation of the process and again, I’m going to be an open and objective facilitator of the process so everyone can speak their piece,” he said.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP/WCMH)–The leader of the Ohio House is organizing a task force to review the issue of medical marijuana in the Buckeye State.

“We might hear something we’ve never heard before, so I’m not going to get into what the outcome will be at this point.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio House leaders announced plans Thursday for a comprehensive review of medical marijuana, while disclosing that backers of an effort to purge old pot-related convictions are withdrawing their proposal from legislative consideration.

State lawmakers have been weighing how to address medical marijuana after Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot initiative in November that sought to legalize pot for medical and recreational use. The measure, Issue 3, would have established 10 sites with exclusive authority to grow marijuana, and with profits going to the issue’s deep-pocketed investors.

While the ballot initiative faced resounding defeat, polls suggested Ohioans support medical marijuana.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The co-founder of the group behind Ohio's failed marijuana initiative said Thursday that ResponsibleOhio is dead and the state legislature is the best route to legalize marijuana for medical use.

ResponsibleOhio founder Jimmy Gould told reporters Thursday that ResponsibleOhio will not be back with another constitutional amendment this year as he promised after voters overwhelmingly rejected Issue 3 in November.

Speaker of the Ohio House Clifford A. Rosenberger (R-Clarksville) and State Representative Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) will be holding a press conference Thursday to announce details regarding the creation of a bipartisan task force charged with addressing the issue of medical marijuana.

Following the defeat of Issue 3 in November that would have made pot legal in Ohio by allowing a monopoly for growers, lawmakers say they learned there was growing support among voters for medicinal marijuana use.

The town hall meetings are designed to bring both sides of the issue together but include the public in the discussion as well.

Even though pot is illegal, those who are in pain say they use they continue to smoke because it offers better results than pain pills.

MANSFIELD, Ohio— Authorities in north-central Ohio have been looking into synthetic marijuana abuse after a rash of overdoses.

Investigators in the Mansfield area say they saw a dramatic spike in overdoses in November and are trying to determine if it’s connected to the death of a 14-year-old boy.

Two teens found unresponsive in a vehicle this past week told deputies that they had been smoking synthetic marijuana. Both were charged with possession of drugs and drug abuse instruments.

Authorities in Mansfield say they had 25 overdoses last month and that many of could be attributed to synthetic marijuana use.

Issues such as marijuana legalization and raising the minimum wage may end up on Ohio ballots in November 2016, impacting presidential election turnout.

Political operators in swing state Ohio are eyeing hot-button ballot issues that could drive voter turnout for their candidates, similar to a tactic used successfully in 2004 when a gay marriage ban propelled conservative voters to the polls and helped Republican George W. Bush win Ohio and the White House.

The race in Ohio was one of the closest in the nation in 2004, where George W. Bush defeated John Kerry, 51-49 percent.

Ohioans in November rejected a well-funded proposal to legalize marijuana, but the issue isn't going away anytime soon.

More ballot issues are in the works, state lawmakers have vowed to act on medical marijuana, and activists across the state are working on local ballot measures that would allow people to possess marijuana without penalty.