Voters in Ohio will decide Nov. 3 whether to become the fifth U.S. state to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, 

As in other states, legalization will be decided by way of a ballot that would lift criminal penalties for growing marijuana at home and possessing up to an ounce of the plant.

Voters in Oregon and Alaska last November approved the use of marijuana for recreational purposes, following approvals in Colorado and Washington state. Marijuana is also now legal in the District of Colombia, the U.S. capital.

Ohio better vote no for the Marijuana monopoly — Jack Herer (@KeKoJoNeZ) October 31, 201

“It’s not all about making money and about profiting”, said Ean Seeb, co-owner of Denver Relief, a dispensary whose monetary and volunteering donations include Ekar Farm and Garden, which grows vegetables for food banks. In 2012, Colorado passed a law legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.

LIMA — The issue of marijuana legalization in the state of Ohio has been a heated discussion to say the least, with people on both sides of the issue stating valid cases.

Former Lima resident Nicole Scholten has been a willing participant in that argument.

The 1987 graduate of Lima Senior, who now lives in Cincinnati, has an 11-year-old daughter named Lucy who has been diagnosed with intractable epilepsy. She has also been diagnosed with several other conditions, including cerebral palsy. Lucy suffers as many as 300 seizures in the course of a day.

Of all the things that former 98 Degrees member, Nick Lachey, can own, he's probably pretty happy to be part owner in what could turn out the be a profitable marijuana field, if his state legalizes it.

According to E Online, government officials in Ohio will be meeting on Tuesday to decide if the state will officially legalize marijuana. If so, the state will regulate the growth of the plant and will only allow ten specific farms to grow the plant on a large-scale. Lachey just so happens to be part owner in one of those farms.

Marijuana for sale is kept in jars for customers to sample smells last month at a new outlet of the Colorado Harvest Co. recreational marijuana stores in Aurora, Colo. While smoking pot in public is illegal in Colorado, one letter writer says that the law doesn’t stop people.(Photo: AP)

Folks want weed for three reasons. One, they need it medically. Fine, let them purchase all they want to ensure a better quality of life. By the way, that’s a miniscule number of people. Two, to get high. Don’t for a minute think users shove that smoke down their lungs, hold it until it hurts for any other reason than to get a buzz.

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Deep-pocketed investors in an Ohio marijuana legalization campaign this fall have been the focus of debate over Tuesday's Issue 3.

Roughly two dozen known individuals — and an indeterminate number of others — will have exclusive rights to 10 initial growing sites located across the state. Among them are an Olympic gold medalist, a former boy band star, a fashion designer and the descendant of a president.

The pro-legalization ResponsibleOhio campaign has argued it was necessary to provide investors a monetary guarantee in order to raise the cash needed to mount an expensive statewide ballot campaign.

The potential legalization of marijuana in Ohio has elicited mixed reactions from the communities surrounding the three possible grow sites in the Cincinnati area.

The proposed Issue 3, which would legalize both recreational and medicinal use of marijuana in Ohio for adults 21 and older, names Anderson Township, Clermont County and Middletown as three of the 10 designated sites where marijuana could be grown if ResponsibleOhio’s legislation passes in November.

Next week could herald the beginning of legal marijuana for both recreational and medicinal use in Ohio. Voters will decide on the Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative during Tuesday’s general election.

The initiative, denoted as Issue 3 on the Ohio ballot, would put in place an amendment to the Ohio constitution, directly changing state law to allow for the legal production, sale, possession and use of marijuana.

“Legalization, I’ve come to understand, touches so many facets of our lives,” said Cassie Young, a graduate student studying social work and public affairs and president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy at Ohio State. “The fact that (illicit substances) are illegal today harms all of us. It criminalizes behavior that should not be criminalized.”

Two things you probably haven’t been paying a lot of attention to lately:

Election Day in Ohio. (It’s not 2016 yet.)

Former boy-band star and reality TV spouse Nick Lachey. (It’s not 2003 anymore.)

Well settle in, because you have some catching up to do. On Tuesday, Ohio goes to the polls to decide if marijuana should be legal. If they vote yes, the Cincinnati native and long-ago leading man of “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica” will automatically become one of the top weed kingpins of the Buckeye State.

It is one of the most curious ballot initiatives in the country — a synergy of B-list celebrity and entrepreneurial democracy in a culturally conservative state that you would hardly expect to lead the charge for legal pot.

Nick Lachey husband, father, singer, TV host...and potential marijuana kingpin. Yep, you read that right.