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Ohio Legal Cannabis Advocate Eyes Retail, Bills, and Ballot

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A key backer of recreational marijuana legalization in Ohio says he and his business partners are pursuing commercial, legislative and ballot strategies to continue expanding access to safe cannabis and related products.

Ian James, founder and president of Green Light Acquisitions LLC, ran the unsuccessful ballot campaign to legalize both recreational and medical marijuana in 2015. Ohio has since legalized medical marijuana.

James said Tuesday that his business has developed a line of therapeutic lotions, soaps and sprays using cannabidiol that he’s marketing to large national retailers, including Urban Outfitters and Sephora.

He’s also pursuing another constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for personal use that would likely appear on the 2020 ballot, while pushing bills to purge criminal records of former marijuana offenders and to open Ohio to legal hemp cultivation.