Ohio voters will decide in November whether to legalize marijuana use for treating illnesses and for getting high.

Secretary of State Jon Husted said on Wednesday he had certified the group ResponsibleOhio had gathered enough valid signatures to place a constitutional amendment before voters in November.

The proposed amendment's language still needs approval by the Ohio Ballot Board, he said.

The measure would establish a Marijuana Control Commission charged with regulating the growth, sale and taxation of marijuana, similar to legalization plans approved by voters in four other U.S. states.

To make medical and recreational marijuana legal or to keep it illegal? That is the multi-billion dollar question.

We should know by the end of the week if voters will get a say.

Proponents are already spending big money on ads, but outspent opposition held its first town hall meeting Tuesday in Bay Village.

Drug counselors led the way discounting the medical argument for legal marijuana, saying there's just not enough data.

But ultimately it looks more and more like it will be up to voters to decide in November.

A 20-million dollar advertising campaign by the group Responsible Ohio is supposed to convince you pot should be legal.

COLUMBUS (Chris Vanocur) -- It now looks like marijuana will be on Ohio's ballot in November. ResponsibleOhio now says it's within 5,000 signatures of qualifying for the ballot.

The pro-pot group's first effort to get on the ballot fell 30,000 signatures short. But they now say they've collected an additional 96,000 signatures.

An official announcement is expected from the Secretary of State’s office by the end of the week.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- ResponsibleOhio's marijuana legalization amendment isn't on the ballot yet, but it aired its first TV commercial Thursday night during the Republican presidential debate with a brief ad directing viewers to the campaign's website to "get the facts."

The 16-second spot that aired Thursday night on Fox News featured an African-American woman standing in front of a white background, telling viewers they might have heard about the plan to legalize marijuana and wondered "if this plan makes sense" and "how it will make Ohio safer."

But the woman doesn't go on to explain, instead telling viewers to watch more videos on ResponsibleOhio's website.

The numbers are looking good for ResponsibleOhio, the group behind the move to place a marijuana-legalization amendment on the Nov. 3 statewide ballot.

Ohio’s two largest counties -- Cuyahoga and Franklin -- completed, or nearly completed, their verification of petition signatures today. The numbers suggest the pro-pot measure is headed to a vote in its second go-around in which it submitted about 95,000 more signatures.

Frankin County election officials have certified 4,582 signatures, or nearly 51 percent of those turned in, with only a few more petition forms to examine.

In Cuyahoga County, officials today certified 4,399 valid signatures, or 40 percent of the 11,008 submitted.

New York’s medical cannabis program made a major announcement, Minnesota patients are pinching pennies to get their medicine, the governor of Wyoming is looking at legalization, and if you’re a Canadian patient, your wallet might be getting a break soon. Here’s what’s happening in the cannabis world – are you informed?

U.S. Cannabis Updates

COLORADO

Drug Abuse Resistance Education, America’s most controversial substance abuse prevention group, accidentally posted a pro-marijuana legalization letter on its website Friday.

Carlis McDerment, a former deputy sheriff from Ohio who has since joined up with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), wrote a letter titled “Purchasing marijuana puts kids at risk,” which the Columbus Dispatch published in response to another letter written by Dr. Johanna Said.

An Ohio political action group has gone ahead with plans to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to legalize marijuana amid investigation for fraud. The group was forced to scramble for more signatures after Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted named a special investigator Wednesday to review what he said were discrepancies in ResponsibleOhio's petitions.

Like a number of companies making good in the growing national marijuana industry, Ohio-based Apeks Supercritical is getting in on the “green rush” by marketing and selling its botanical oil extraction systems to buyers in the legal cannabis industry, Director of Sales Shawn E. Litterini said in an interview.

The C02 extraction systems are cleaner than other extraction solvents, which leave more chemical residue, and can be used to make any number of oil extracts such as vanilla and saffron extract, Litterini said.

By Noelle Skodzinski

People often say that no publicity is bad publicity, but the latest news around ResponsibleOhio—which recently submitted signatures to get an initiative on the November election ballot to legalize and regulate marijuana in The Buckeye State—does not seem to bode well for ResponsibleOhio’s already contentious legalization efforts. ResponsibleOhio, however, is crying foul, suggesting it’s being “punished.”