Local business stakeholders say legalizing marijuana could further impact a workplace already marred by an inability to find workers who can pass a drug test.

As several issues promoting marijuana legalization in Ohio move forward in an effort to be placed on November’s ballot, a major concern is how employers would deal with workforce safety and drug testing.

“We don’t really support legalizing marijuana as an employer,” said Robert Toews, chief financial officer for Kaivac Inc., adding that having workers able to smoke cannabis, even off the job, could create confusion in the workplace.

Ohio has taken the first step toward legalizing marijuana for recreational use after the state’s attorney general approved paperwork that would allow the issue to be decided by voters. On Friday, Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican, certified ResponsibleOhio’s petition to put pot legalization on the ballot and has sent it to the Ohio Ballot Board, which has 10 days to review the language of the petition and approve it for signature gathering, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Professor Douglas Berman teaches a class about marijuana, so he has heard the jokes. He even allows a little pot humor in the classroom. But he isn’t especially fond of the nickname his class has picked up:

Weed 101.

“It’s a lot more than that,” Berman said about his class at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.

Flippant attitudes toward the marijuana debate are in part what inspired him to start teaching “ Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform,” which aims to cut through claims on both sides of the marijuana debate.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Supporters of a constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana in Ohio said their plan could generate $554 million in annual tax revenue once the industry has been established.

ResponsibleOhio released initial tax revenue projections for its legalization proposal, which limits commercial growing of marijuana to 10 pre-selected sites promised to campaign investors. Marijuana would be taxed 15 percent at production and manufacturing facilities and 5 percent at retail locations, with tax revenues going toward local governments, addiction services, and marijuana research.

Ian James, architect of a proposal to legalize pot in Ohio, said it stemmed from a simple notion: "Let's take this from the tie-dye to the suit-and-tie approach to marijuana."

James, CEO of the Strategy Network, a Columbus political consulting firm, turned to Cincinnati lawyer Chris Stock for help. Would Stock draft a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that would outline how pot would be regulated for personal and medical use? "I've never used marijuana in my life," Stock told James. "I'm not sure I want to be involved." But he relented.

Is Ohio, long considered the nation's leading political bellwether state, going to pot?

If some big-money investors, former sports stars and grassroots activists get their way, voters in November could make Ohio the first state to go directly from a total ban on marijuana to one allowing production and consumption of both medical and recreational marijuana.

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, OH – The debate on legalizing marijuana continues.

Just one day after a group pushing to legalize weed filed a new version of a proposal to get it passed, there is now a growing movement to stop them in their tracks.

The organization Responsible Ohio, has raised  more than 35 million dollars to put the controversial topic on the November ballot.

And just this week, resubmitted a new version of its proposal to Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine.

Bolander says, “We know that marijuana is in our communities now, we know that it’s accessible, but it’s not safe.”

But opponents say making it legal would be just as dangerous.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Investors have raised at least $36 million to fund ResponsibleOhio's plan to legalize marijuana and purchase the commercial growing sites promised to investor groups.

Investors contributed $4 million to each of nine limited liability corporations tied to ResponsibleOhio last year, according to securities offering filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ResponsibleOhio officials have said they expect to spend more than $20 million to get their constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot and passed by a majority of voters in November.

On Friday, the pro-marijuana group ResponsibleOhio pitched their initial ballot language for an amendment that would allow the legalization of marijuana in the state of Ohio.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Key investors in a campaign to legalize marijuana use in Ohio include a former pro-basketball star, a pro-football player and a fashion designer.

ResponsibleOhio on Friday released the names of 11 key investors in its campaign to legalize marijuana for medical and personal use in Ohio. The investors, along with other supporters, are members of the investment groups that will own and operate the 10 marijuana grow sites to be specified in the group's proposed constitutional amendment.

"The campaign is honored to have such well-respected businesswomen and men, as well as patient advocates supporting our effort to offer a common-sense solution to Ohio's failed drug policies," Ian James, ResponsibleOhio's executive director, said in a press release.