During a city-wide vote on Tuesday September 15, 70% of Toledoans said YES to removing all criminal penalties for possession of under 200 grams of marijuana and reducing penalties for larger possession offenses.

Ohio's marijuana legalization ballot issue earned a few laughs Tuesday on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

In a four-minute segment on the show, Colbert mentioned smoking buckeyes, Willie Nelson, Columbus-based Wendy's, and Buddie, the mascot Issue 3 supporters created to pitch their plan to college-aged voters.

"For the first time in history, Ohio could legally be round on both ends and high in the middle," Colbert said to open the segment.

Colbert joked that Ohio, unlike Colorado and Oregon, is not known for its marijuana use.

"That's America's heartland where folks are supposed to get high on elbow grease, huff the can-do spirit and freebase a buckeye," Colbert said.

I have worked locally as a police officer for the past 27 years and have spent the past 13 years working with juveniles as a school resource officer and juvenile detective.

Board member Michael Collins said he talks regularly with educators from Colorado who tell him that young people have not handled easier access to the drug well.

In May, ResponsibleOhio was criticized in an editorial in High Times magazine, the monthly publication that supports marijuana legalization.

One issue would allow recreational marijuana use, but the other issue would take away most of the framework of that law.

If we want to do something about the heroin epidemic, a significant impact can be made by preventing teenagers from using drugs in the first place.

By a margin of over 2 to 1, voters in Toledo, Ohio yesterday approved a municipal ballot measure removing criminal and civil penalties associated with minor marijuana possession offenses. The vote took place during a special city election.

Comedian Steven Colbert made fun of ResponsibleOhio's marijuana mascot, Buddie, during a segment on The Late Show on Tuesday. ResponsibleOhio is the political action committee backing Issue 3, a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana in Ohio. (ResponsibleOhio on Facebook)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio's marijuana legalization ballot issue earned a few laughs Tuesday on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

In a four-minute segment on the show, Colbert mentioned smoking buckeyes, Willie Nelson, Columbus-based Wendy's, and Buddie, the mascot Issue 3 supporters created to pitch their plan to college-aged voters.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio's Issue 3 received its first endorsement from a national marijuana advocacy group, but the group says the proposed constitutional amendment is not the best way to legalize marijuana.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, has a simple mission: legalize marijuana use among adults and establish a regulated legal marijuana market. To that point, NORML supports Issue 3, which would legalize recreational and medical marijuana for adults over age 21 and establish a legal marijuana industry.

Some of us are still processing this whole marijuana legalization deal. For many people, it’s kind of hard to believe legalization is actually really happening — it’s no longer simply a topic of discussion marijuana smokers debate over, it’s right here and right now. Imagine going back in time and telling yourself 10 or 15 years ago that in 2015, recreational pot would be legal in four states — and even Washington D.C.

The marijuana advocacy group ResponsibleOhio has made headlines this week over a debate including the organization’s latest spokesperson.

Buddie, a green-muscled marijuana mascot, is serving as a spokesperson for ResponsibleOhio on college campuses across the state, motivating students to vote yes on ResponsibleOhio’s project.

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CLEVELAND -Citing reasons both political and personal, former Cleveland City Council President George Forbes endorsed Issue 3 on Friday-- the measure that would legalize recreational and medical marijuana, if voters approve it in November.

Forbes' political motivation stems from his belief that marijuana laws are unfairly applied against minorities.

"In the city of Cleveland," Forbes said, "out of every 10 people who are arrested for marijuana, eight of them are black."

His personal reason is his decades-long battle with osteoporosis-- a painful bone disease.

"I hurt so bad that sometimes I wake up at night and I cry," he said.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A caped green superhero stumping for marijuana-legalization votes at college campuses and bars in Ohio has sparked debate over its impact on children.

"Buddie" is a fuzzy, ever-smiling pot bud in a bulging white muscle suit with green trunks, gloves and boots. He arrives in a truck painted with marijuana leaves declaring: "Yes on legalization."

Children's health advocates opposed to legalization said Buddie is reminiscent of Joe Camel, the cartoon dromedary proven so effective at marketing cigarettes to teenagers in the 1990s that R.J. Reynolds was forced to retire his image. They said the pot mascot makes light of a dangerous illegal drug in a manner appealing to kids.