Cincy State president: Yes to legal marijuana

• Owens joins other prominent Cincinnati citizens supporting the ResponsibleOhio measure
• Spokeswoman says unlike others, Owens does not have a financial interest in the outcome of the initiative
• Owens says he’s seen the impact of a marijuana conviction on students seeking federal loan aid

Dr. O’Dell Owens, president of Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and the former coroner for Hamilton County, endorsed on Monday the proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana in Ohio.

In a statement issued by the legalization campaign ResponsibleOhio, Owens said that as a physician, he believes patients should be able to assess the medical value of marijuana in consultation with their doctors.

“It is imperative that we allow patients to work directly with their doctors to use the treatments that work best for them, including medical marijuana if recommended,” Owens’ statement said. “As the president of a community college, I have seen marijuana convictions for personal use prevent students from receiving financial aid, putting college even further out of reach, or have kept people from getting jobs. Ohio desperately needs reform.”

ResponsibleOhio says it has more than 160,000 of the 305,591 signatures necessary to place its proposed constitutional amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot. If approved, the measure would create a Marijuana Control Commission that would issue licenses to 10 farms around Ohio that would be the only places that would grow the crop. Another 1,100 licenses would be available to open manufacturing and testing facilities as well as retail outlets.

Owens is among a host of prominent Cincinnati citizens who have expressed support for the ResponsibleOhio proposal, including philanthropist Barbara Gould, former star athlete Oscar Robertson, former Cincinnati Bengal Frostee Rucker, Over-the-Rhine restaurant owner Nick Lachey and two descendants of Cincinnati’s storied Taft family.

While those other supporters have invested millions of dollars into purchasing potential land for marijuana growing, Owens is not getting involved in the initiative that way, said ResponsibleOhio spokeswoman Lydia Bolander.

“He has no financial interest in the campaign. This is more an endorsement of the campaign,” Bolander said. “Dr. Owens has seen the far-reaching effects of prohibition, and he is voicing his support for our proposal.”

Owens is a native Cincinnatian who earned his bachelor’s degree at Antioch College and his medical degree at Yale University Medical School. He also earned a master’s degree in public health from Yale then continued his studies at Yale as an intern, resident and chief resident in obstetrics and gynecology. After a stint at Harvard Medical School, he returned to Cincinnati to practice reproductive endocrinology. He achieved Cincinnati’s first in-vitro fertilization and delivery.

He was elected Hamilton County Coroner in 2004 and re-elected in 2008 by a county-record vote count.

Owens’ statement also said that if marijuana is legalized, “It is critical that we expunge the records of those who have non-violent criminal records related to marijuana.”