The cannabis activist attempted to gain favor with voters in nine communities this week to decriminalize marijuana to remove the penalties for possession of the plant.
But Bill Schmitt Jr. and his supporters proved successful in six towns and unsuccessful in three, and those represent obstacles he plans to overcome in the near future.
“Next year we plan to go back to Bridgeport, Morristown, and Brookside, and we’ll expand our efforts into St. Clairsville, Shadyside, Flushing, Brilliant, McMechen, and Wheeling,” Schmitt revealed. “Those efforts in those communities in the next week or so are in order to spread valid information and to offer as much education as possible.
“The process to terms of all of the necessary paperwork will begin next week,” he said. “I am far from finished. I want to decriminalize marijuana in every community in this valley because it’s the right thing to do for those that live in this valley. Marijuana is not the evil it’s been made out to be for many years, so it’s all about getting to those folks and helping them understand.”
A Win Is a Win
Some of the initiative’s defeats were by very slim margins. One. Two.
Now, in Powhattan Point, not only was Schmitt disappointed but surprised.
“I am still very proud of the people in the Ohio Valley who came out to vote one way or the other on the initiative, and I am so thankful to the people who helped me,” Schmitt said. “We only lost Morristown by one vote, and Brookside by two votes, so it appears we were successful in six of the nine communities where I collected the signatures so the initiative could get on the ballot in the first place.
“The only one that we some troubles was in Powhattan Point, so that one really needs more work so we can further educate those citizens more about the benefits of what we are trying to do for them,” he explained. “Those defeats? I’ll put those on me. The only reason why we lose a ‘yes’ vote is that the campaign didn’t do enough to let people know it was on the ballot. If they would have known, they would have gone out and voted.”
But that only means he and his volunteers will work harder and longer to attract as many supporters as possible because that, obviously helps spread information about a plant that has been demonized for decades because of perpetrated interference on part of the federal government since the 1930s.
“That is why next year, we’ll have to be more vigilant in the cities that we lost,” Schmitt insisted. “But we are very encouraged right now because the voters in Martins Ferry passed the initiative and that is the largest municipality in Belmont County. Plus, it is the home of the state of Ohio’s very first medicinal marijuana patient.
“We were also successful in five other communities and that is a great thing because now those residents know they are safe from those laws,” the activist added. “The only community I believe may take two or three years in Powhattan Point, but we will put it on the ballot every single year for the voters who voted ‘no’ this year to have the chance to learn more and reconsider.”
