CLEVELAND, Ohio — Data surrounding marijuana and traffic crashes are muddy and inconclusive. If you’ve been confused about what to make of the statistics, ahead of the Nov. 7 decision on whether to legalize recreational marijuana in Ohio, we got you.

We’re talking about traffic accidents and marijuana in states that have legalized it, on Today in Ohio.

Listen online here.

Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, politics editor Rick Rouan and reporter Courtney Astolfi.

You’ve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what we’re thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up here: https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.

Here’s what else we’re asking about today:Will this come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to how dysfunctional Ohio’s legislature has become, with its focus on neutralizing voters and pushing silly things like constitutional amendments to guarantee fishing rights? Which state is rated as the worst in the county for its redistricting process?

Is Derek Merrin the new Kari Lake, meaning someone who simply cannot admit he lost? What’s his latest shot at Jason Stephens, who outmaneuvered Merrin to become Ohio House speaker?

Who is the new CEO at Sherwin Williams, and what are the chances she will use the position the way former CEO Chris Connor did, to help the region prosper while tending to the massive paint company’s needs?

People keep asking us how they can get Issue 1 signs. That’s the abortion amendment on the Novmeber ballot. Some want Issue 2 signs, involving recreational marijuana. Are they in short supply? Is there high demand? Do you have to pay for them? How can people get them?

America dodged a bullet Wednesday, when House Republicans made their choice for speaker. How close did Jim Jordan – election denier and Donald Trump sycophant – come to get the nod?

Ohio State Treasurer Bob Sprague is showing his support for Israel in a big way following the horrifying attack by Hamas over the weekend. What’s he doing?

Freshman Ohio Congressman Max Miller stepped up again for Israel Wednesday. What does he propose?

Why is the Cleveland Clinic returning to masks in its hospitals?

When was the last time the city of Cleveland changed its trash pick up days for residents, and what is the plan to do so today?

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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.

Chris (00:02.877)

It’s Friday the 13th on Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the plane dealer. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to be unlucky. We got good stories and our luck is in because Rick Rowan is here, our state house and politics editor, along with Leila Tassi and Lisa Garvin. I’m Chris Quinn. We got news. Let’s get to it. If you’ve grown weary of the dysfunction in Ohio, there’s now a concrete step you can take to be.

Lisa (00:04.617)

on today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion. From Twitter.com, it’s a funny dealer. And that person is gonna be unlucky. We got good stories and our luck is in because Rick Berline is here, our state house and politics editor, along with Laila Tassi and we have a few cigar leaves. I’m Chris Quinn, we got news, let’s get to it.

Chris (00:30.629)

in fixing this wayward state. Lisa, what is it?

Lisa (00:34.671)

Yeah, you want to sign those petitions for an independent redistricting commission ballot initiative for next year. Yesterday the Ohio ballot board unanimously approved the ballot language for this proposal without debate. They determined that it’s a single issue, which it has to be to go on the ballot.

So Attorney General Dave Yost has to certify the ballot board vote, which is a given, and then signature gathering can begin. So Citizens Not Politicians, which is the group that is forwarding this, it says it’s a big day for Ohioans of all political persuasions. Former Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, Maureen O’Connor, who’s spearheading this, says citizens are now one step closer to taking the wheel and putting politicians in the backseat when it comes to choosing districts.

So next, they have to collect about 413,000 signatures from 44 of the 88 counties. And they have to do this sometime before July, 2024. And most Democrats are in support of this. Many of them are, but Republicans are likely to oppose this. They’re already crafting messaging that the current process works because the maps we have now were unanimously approved by both Republicans and Democrats on the commission.

Frank Larose, our Secretary of State, is surprisingly noncommittal. He says he thinks that there are interesting proposals in this proposed amendment, but he’s worried about the accountability of a 15-member commission and concern about possible lawsuits.

Chris (02:08.025)

They’re going to try and claim that the system works is pretty hilarious because nobody would ever agree with that. The Republicans have shown they’re going to fight this because they’ve enjoyed the fruits of their gerrymandering. And really you can take back the Republican maneuvering on this back until like 1915 or 2015 because the League of Women Voters was trying to get something on the ballot then that would have been much better than what we have. And finally, the Republicans in the legislature said, okay, we’ll do it.

They put together what we have now, fully planning, I think, to abuse it, which they’ve now done, uh, and have reaped the fruits of the labor, a super majority that doesn’t match the state and complete dysfunction in idiotic proposals. But I don’t see how they’re going to win this battle in the campaign. People voted 70% plus to change it last time. I think they’ll change it this time. Everybody wants change. I just, it’ll be interesting to see.

how they try they tried to do it with issue one they tried to pedal nonsense for that there’s a lot of nonsense being peddled on the abortion issue and ohio and stone seem to be buying so i don’t know how they’re gonna win this battle when this gets to the ballot

Lisa (03:08.637)

Mm-hmm

Lisa (03:20.561)

Yeah, let’s hope not. And the reason that the two Democrats, Nikki Antonio and Allison Russo, finally voted yes on this last set of maps is they’re pinning their hopes on next year. And, you know, we’ve had two votes in 2015 and 2018 that voters overwhelmingly wanted to end gerrymandering. So this would be like the final nail in the coffin if this passes.

Chris (03:42.393)

Yeah, I do want to worry a little bit that this proposal is somewhat complicated. And when something is complicated, it makes it vulnerable to bogus attacks by people who don’t want it to happen. This one, as we’ve been reporting it, it does have enough intricacies that it may be hard for people to grasp. So we’ll have to see how that develops. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.

How does some Ohio lawmakers propose blocking the very easy access that use have today to pornographic video? Rick?

Rick Rouan (04:16.886)

So a new bipartisan bill proposed in the Ohio House would require pornography websites to verify the age of users, and it would actually impose criminal penalties if they don’t. So it’s House Bill 295, and it was recently introduced. Hasn’t had any hearings yet, but it’s similar to other legislation that’s already passed in seven states. It would require these websites to use what it calls a commercial age verification system.

and that would require users to upload a copy of their government ID or some other kind of document such as a mortgage statement or an employment document to confirm the fact that they’re adults. Violators would be charged with a third degree felony which is punishable with up to three years in prison and a hundred thousand dollar fine. The bill also creates a criminal charge for kids who try to circumvent the system. Anyone under 18 who tries to use a fake ID to access pornography websites.

will be charged with a fourth degree misdemeanor, which brings a jail sentence of up to 30 days and a $250 fine. So legislation sponsor says that the charge for kids is meant to be a deterrent, not something that spurs, you know, wide scale investigations from law enforcement. He describes them as common sense barriers, but trade groups representing the adult entertainment industry are couching this as a free speech infringement issue. So far the bills passed in other states have had pretty mixed results.

when it comes to being challenged in courts. And then one other thing that’s worth noting about the bill is that it would ban the use of deepfake technology to impose someone else’s image within pornography.

Chris (05:52.129)

Do we have any idea in other states how effective it is at reducing youth viewing of pornography or is it too early to know that?

Rick Rouan (06:01.59)

I think it’s too early to know that. The pornography websites have, in some cases, just stopped operating in some of these states, and in other cases seen a drop in traffic, but it’s not really clear if that’s a product of children no longer viewing pornography or just an overall drop because this creates an additional hurdle to accessing it.

Lisa (06:19.61)

That’s a product of children no longer viewing pornography or just an overall…

Chris (06:29.225)

Yeah, for anybody that has been accessing it anonymously, this will block them. I wonder why the porn industry hasn’t come up with some technological advancement to be able to do this. You know, the whole, uh, the whole technology for streaming video. Blew up because of porn companies. They were behind those technological advances in the early days that made it easier to stream because they have so much money coming in. And you’d think that if this is going to block.

Rick Rouan (06:32.364)

Right.

Chris (06:57.257)

the anonymous people who are using their sites. They’d come up with some system that would pass muster with legislatures to make sure the kids aren’t seeing it. It is astounding how easy it is for youths to access pornography. It’s nothing like when I was a kid. There was just, I’m amazed at what any kid with internet access is able to view.

Lisa (07:17.913)

Thanks for watching.

Rick Rouan (07:20.726)

One question that I’ve got with this is how they’re going to define pornography and who’s going to be subject to this. So, you know, you can scroll through social media and there’s probably things that you could define as pornography. So is Instagram and TikTok and Twitter or X, are they going to be subject to this as well? I think that’s going to be an interesting question as this gets debated.

Lisa (07:34.507)

Absolutely.

Chris (07:46.673)

Yeah, it’s very, very difficult to parse that. It’ll be interesting to see what they do. It is a noble effort because there have been studies that have found that youth perceptions of relationships and sex are very much colored by what they see in pornography, which is about as realistic as Saturday morning cartoons. And it’s probably bad for their mental health to be watching that stuff.

at this young impressionable age, but how do you parse it?

Lisa (08:18.673)

Yeah, and this is a privacy nightmare, like one of the people that we talked to, you know, for the article. It is because that doesn’t, it means everybody who goes on a porn site has to provide an ID. So somebody is warehousing that information and they’re asking for a mortgage statement or a utility bill? Come on. You know, I think the article said in Louisiana, Pornhub found that their traffic dropped 80% overall after, you know, and trust me.

Internet porn is a scourge of modern society. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, but this is a privacy nightmare.

Chris (08:53.597)

Yeah. And I just, I think the demand is what determines it. Clearly there’s a huge demand for this. And so people will find a way, but you can’t, you’re not going to be able to block this stream up we’ve seen repeatedly over time, if there’s high demand for something, people figure out a way to get it, but you got to salute that they’re trying to do something about it after years of what can be damaging to youth.

Interesting. We’ll see how it develops. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Lalo, some of our readers were confused by what they thought were conflicting details in two stories about marijuana. They weren’t conflicting details. They were just looking at different sets of facts, but we set out to clear it up. Do traffic fatalities go up when states legalize recreational marijuana?

Lisa (10:05.645)

And Gretchen says there isn’t solid research available that clearly ties the change in traffic access to legalization in marijuana. And there are multiple reasons why we can’t draw conclusions about the data we do.

Chris (11:54.281)

What’s clear is we haven’t created a source of runaway fatal accidents and accidents. We haven’t seen just how to control because it’s a high percentage of the population that’s using marijuana. So if this was a big contributor to traffic issues, you would think you would see it. We have an intense hunger among our audience for stories about marijuana. I mean, they just keep clamoring for more. I sent out a text yesterday.

listing the most recent four and got a million thank yous. People are just glad we’re tackling this. And I thought it was interesting when Dave Yost issued his analyses of both issue one, abortion, and issue two, marijuana. On our website, these stories had identical headlines except for issue one, issue two. The issue two shot to the top of our charts. Number one story while the abortion one was not nearly.

so red, so we’re going to keep trying to do more stories on this.

Chris (13:35.873)

I’m hoping we get to this before the election. Why if THC, the inebriating element of marijuana, stays in your bloodstream for weeks, you don’t remain high for weeks? My early reading of it is that in the liver, the THC is converted to a different form of THC, which is not intoxicating. But I just want to get the knowledge, because you have a direct correlation

alcohol in your bloodstream and how inebriated you are. It doesn’t work that way with THC. People use it, they get high, the high goes away fairly quickly, but the THC remains. How do you account for that? So look for that story if we can get it done.

Chris (15:01.161)

Right, the NIH study I read about this said THC starts in your system, it’s intoxicating, it gets to the liver where it’s converted into a different kind of THC, it’s got some initials after a low H or something, that’s still intoxicating, but then it’s converted again, to one with a longer set of initials that’s not so why can’t we get a test that discerns between those forms because that would give police an instant read on whether they have the intoxicating molecules or the non.

It just, it throws me that we don’t have any of this yet, but it would just want to give people as much understanding as we can. So we will continue to do so all the way up through the election and afterwards. It’s today in Ohio. It’s not Edgewater Beach where we discussed gross sewage outflows earlier this week, but another waterway, another waterfront is going to get some help from an expensive project to keep the sewage out. And it’s almost ready. Lisa, what will it do?

Lisa (16:01.041)

I was fascinated by this story, Chris. So the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is just about finished on a new pump station which is north of the shoreway near the Cuyahoga Old River Channel. There are five nine-foot tall pumps at the bottom of a 200-foot shaft that connects to a brand new westerly storage tunnel. So about 45 million gallons of sewage a day will be pumped

through that tunnel to the upgraded Westerly wastewater treatment plant. And this is one of seven tunnels that have been completed or under construction to greatly reduce sewer outflows into the Cuyahoga River after heavy rains. So, and that occurred at what they call the Wallworth Run Outfall, which is in the flats near Scranton and University Roads, just under the I-90 bridge.

So this overflows into the river 50 times a year on average, dumping about 300 million gallons of raw sewage into the Cuyahoga. So after this is up and running, that should decrease to only one outflow a year into the river, about 3.5 million gallons total.

Chris (17:11.465)

I want to put people into the way back machine and go back a quarter century. Back then our sewer bills were dimes and nickels. I mean, literally a few bucks. And we started to do stories saying your sewer bills are about to go up astronomically year after year after year for a long time to come. And they have, they’re now much bigger than our water bills, which they weren’t. The whole idea was to use that money to build this kind of system. And so.

For the last 20 years, we’ve been spending enormous sums to keep the sewage out and have greatly reduced it. This is the product of all those enormous sewer bill increases we’ve all been paying for all this time. And it’s good to see that it actually is going to work.

Lisa (17:56.885)

Yeah, and it’s ongoing. I mean, they still have a ways to go. So, Walworth Run is like the 74th of 112 sewer outfalls that now comply with environmental protection agency standards. There’s a project, a $3 billion Project Clean Lake that is upgrading our 19th century sewer system. So next, they’re gonna be addressing the Morgana Run, the Kingsbury Run, and the Burke Brook Outfalls next.

Those three dump a combined 760 million gallons of sewage into the river. And so they hope that will be up and funneled to the southerly wastewater treatment plant by 2029.

Chris (18:38.045)

Okay, it’s good news for the river. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Here’s another marijuana story. Rick, how is the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana on the November ballot different from the marijuana campaign that was run in Ohio in 2015?

Rick Rouan (18:55.246)

So far, the backers of the recreational marijuana proposal aren’t spending nearly as much money this time around as they did in 2015. So back in 2015, the backers of that proposal outspent opponents $20 million to $2 million, so 10 to 1. They spent that money sending a mascot called Buddy on a statewide tour and airing ads on television. This year, however, the campaign is pretty much flying under the radar.

Spending is being nearly non-existent on both sides. The pro issue to side is charging $20 for yard signs The campaign finance reports we have so far show they spent most of their money collecting the signatures to get this thing on the ballot In the first place. They’re not on television yet, but they say they’re putting ads on streaming services. Those are harder to track But they say that those are out there

On the opposition side, we’re seeing very little as well. A new group has popped up to make an ad buy, but so far the main opposition group isn’t really spending a ton of money either. This is kind of surprising. The traditional campaign season really gets heavy after Labor Day, and we just haven’t seen that here. There could be a few things in play though. For one, an abortion rights amendment is at the top of the ballot, and that kind of a hot button issue could be soaking up most of the oxygen and fundraising dollars. And then two,

It’s highly unusual to have back to back high profile issue elections in August and November in Ohio. So it’s possible that there’s just not a ton of resources out there too.

Chris (20:27.965)

I suspect one of the reasons we’re getting such high readership for the stories we do on marijuana is because there’s a lack of information anywhere else, even in the advertising. I wonder if we should put together one of those posts we do on occasion where we list all the stories we’ve done for people that are looking to get educated as fast as possible. We did that with issue one in August, not the abortion, but the one we were trying to destroy our ability to change the constitution.

And people did respond well to that. I wonder if that’s what we should do to help people again. It is interesting how hungry people are for this information. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Talking about popular stories on our website, this next one has been popular for a few days. Leila, how did a couple of giant boulders prove their worth to a Cleveland Heights resident who has been endangered multiple times by reckless drivers?

Lisa (23:05.685)

or directional arrows on the traffic light signal bulbs to remind people that they can’t go straight. Seems easy enough, but. I’m getting that. I’m sure. Mm-hmm. I’m getting that. I’m sure. It felt like my call was out of control. Mm-hmm. I’m getting that. I’m sure.

Chris (23:13.777)

Although I’ve driven that intersection literally hundreds of times and never once have felt like my car was out of control, you’d have to be speeding at a ridiculous rate to have to do this. And I mean, this is a neighborhood street. This is not a through way. This is not a major commuter route. It throws me that people are driving that fast on that road. I mean, I

I get that we all might go over the speed limit a little bit, but you really would have to be doing 70, 80 miles an hour to blow through there. And you know, do they do that in your neighborhood? I just, it throws me how big a problem this is because you just can’t drive that fast on a neighborhood street.

Lisa (23:59.405)

No, I, cause yeah, like you, Chris, I mean, my favorite bakery is just like two doors down from that intersection. And I was there just a couple of days before those accidents. I don’t know. I think that they could probably use some of those yellow directional area arrows there, but those boulders did their job. I think that he needs a third boulder in between the two that he already has. But no, it’s next to his driveway.

It’s next, it’s right across the front lawn of his house. And so there’s a space between these two humongous boulders. I think the third boulder would, and he said the second time, I guess, the SUV apparently moved a couple of the boulders. So I don’t know what else they could do.

Chris (24:39.874)

There is an aesthetic here. You don’t want to turn that into a highway kind of thing with lots of big yellow signs. This is a neighborhood and that shopping area you’re talking about is a quaint little shopping area that people love. Do you really want to have gigantic yellow arrow signs and blinking yellow lights? The people that are, what they ought to do is spend some time doing speed control there and really start writing some large tickets because isn’t that a 25 zone?

Lisa (24:47.418)

Hmm.

Lisa (24:53.016)

Mm-hmm.

Chris (25:07.957)

when you’re going through there.

Lisa (25:07.981)

Yeah, they just recently changed Taylor to a 25 mile an hour street. Yeah.

Chris (25:13.772)

I mean, going 80 in a 25, that’s so reckless that you really should lose your license.

Chris (25:27.593)

No, no, and it’s a red light. There’s a green light, red light there too.

Chris (25:37.987)

Yeah.

Lisa (25:38.039)

Right?

Chris (25:48.469)

No, I’d give him more boulders. I would try to…

Lisa (25:50.166)

Yeah.

Chris (25:53.526)

Oh no, no no, I disagree.

Lisa (25:54.461)

No, they, I disagree. Yeah, I actually think they look kind of cool, but

Chris (25:59.205)

Yeah. I mean, the big yellow signs and arrows, I mean, I get why they took the guard rail out, it was hideously ugly. So putting big boulders out there would protect him. And the danger is for people to hit those, they could be, they could be seriously injured. What surprised me is how hard people hit these and they’re not dead. Anyway, top story on our site. People love it. They’re eating it up. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Cleveland Congresswoman.

Lisa (26:18.005)

Mmm.

Chris (26:25.585)

Chantelle Brown has been working to get hazardous materials removed from hair straighteners. Seems like that should be an easy thing to do. Rick, does it appear she will finally have some success?

Rick Rouan (26:36.182)

So the ultimate outcome here is not entirely sewn up yet, but the Food and Drug Administration has proposed a ban on formaldehyde and chemicals that release formaldehyde, such as methylene glycol as an ingredient in hair smoothing or hair straightening products. These products are used to permanently straighten hair by breaking down the protein structure that makes some hair curly. This is something that Brown has been pushing for. She co-authored a letter to the FDA earlier this year with another Congress member.

pointing out that black women are more likely to use these products because of anti-black hair sentiments and therefore are disproportionately harmed by the chemicals. The letter noted that an NIH study released last year linked the use of hair straightening products to a higher risk of uterine cancer and that those who use hair straightening products more than four times in the previous year were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer as non-users would. So it’s important to note that this is a proposed rule.

from the FDA. So there’s a long and winding road ahead through the federal government bureaucracy for it to become actual policy. But it’s something that Brown sees as a positive development for her efforts.

Chris (27:46.081)

Doesn’t it seem like a no brainer that you should be able to outlaw products that cause cancer that are used on your body. And it just, this one seems like you shouldn’t even need this long period. They should just pass a law saying, okay, you can’t put cancer causing elements and things people are putting on their head.

Rick Rouan (28:04.139)

I’m-

Rick Rouan (28:16.074)

Yeah, there’s plenty of things that we see that seem like no brainers and yet, here we stand calling them no brainers because they haven’t happened yet.

Chris (28:16.257)

gas.

Chris (28:24.199)

Good point. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Lalo, why is Cleveland the wrong place to be if you suffer from asthma?

Chris (28:48.804)

Dead last, dead last!

Lisa (28:51.33)

Thank you.

Lisa (29:27.793)

is starting to increase in July. It keeps climbing until the first hard freeze. And of course, there are other risk factors that could as well worse like poverty, and other insurance and your insurance, and the secrets from the game. And you have it all here in Cleveland. I’m surprised destination Cleveland hasn’t made this a focus in the next ad campaign.

Chris (29:46.624)

Haha

It’s odd is I’ve had a lifelong ragweed allergy. It was really bad when I was younger and I didn’t feel it at all this year. But then this week I got hit with allergies. I was in my doctor and I mentioned it and she said, Oh yeah, it’s been nightmarish with what people have been dealing with. So anecdotally and by science, this is not good. You’re listening to today in Ohio. We’re not done yet.

A sculpture unveiled this week in University Circle commemorates one of the most remarkable scenes of the 1960s. Lisa, what was the moment and what does the sculpture depict?

Lisa (30:21.693)

Yeah, the sculpture represents the 1967 Cleveland Summit of Black Athletes and Leaders. They were supporting boxer Muhammad Ali’s stance as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. So it was dedicated yesterday in University Circle. It has three pieces. One piece is a large photo representation of the attendees on the wall of the American Cancer Society building at 10501 Euclid Avenue. And then in front of that is a black granite table with 12 layers.

representing the 12 participants of that summit. And then it has several microphones sitting on top. And there’s a flat stone marker in front with the names of the 12 participants. That included Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Karl Stokes, and Jim Brown. This is very exciting. A Cavs player, Donovan Mitchell, was one of the speakers at the dedication. And he was starstruck by the presence of participant John Wooten, who is a former Browns and NFL lineman.

Um, and Mitchell said, you’re a legend and without you, you know, we were just not here.

Chris (31:23.485)

I hope this gets on the list of must-see tourism stops in Cleveland. And it’s one of the, it’s a huge moment in history. It’s a Cleveland unique thing, like the Rock Hall. And you really hope that we get the word out that you definitely want to stop and visit this. This is a big moment to signify. Very cool that this has been put together.

Lisa (31:34.114)

Yes.

Chris (31:46.037)

You’re listening to Today in Ohio that closes out a very long week. We’re all glad it’s Friday. We hope you are too. Thank you, Rick. Thank you, Layla. Thank you, Lisa. Thanks to everybody who listens. We’ll be back Monday with another discussion of the news.