Ohio
4/20 is here (not really for Ohio): How far do Ohioans have to drive to get legal marijuana?
Saturday marks Ohio’s 4/20 the first “green” holiday since Ohio legalized recreational marijuana in November. But recreational weed sales in the state aren’t set to begin until June at the earliest.
So, what is a marijuana enthusiast to do?
If you don’t have a medical marijuana card, you’ll have to drive. Remember, taking marijuana across state lines is still illegal under federal law even if you’re moving it from one legal state to another. You’ll have to use it in whatever state it’s purchased in if you don’t want to run afoul of the law.
More on Ohio recreational marijuana: Ohio recreational marijuana for beginners: Navigating THC, pre-rolls, edibles and terpenes
With that in mind, the Dispatch set out to see just how far you’ll have to go from some of Ohio’s bigger cities to legally buy recreational marijuana.
Legal marijuana in Columbus
The closest recreational marijuana dispensary to Ohio’s capital city is in Petersburg, Michigan. You’ll have to drive 161 miles or two hours and 41 minutes to get there.
Legal pot in Cleveland
The nearest recreational dispensary to the home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is in Monroe, Michigan at 133 miles or two hours and five minutes of driving.
Legal weed in Cincinnati
As the proverbial crow flies, Morenci (at 200 miles away or three and a half hours of driving) is technically the closest place to get recreational weed for residents of the Queen City. But in terms of driving time, Danville, Illinois—the home of two recreational dispensaries—is closest, with two hours and 59 minutes of road time, or 202 miles of travel.
Legal marijuana in Akron
Like Cleveland, Monroe, Michigan is the closest city with a recreational dispensary at 155 miles or two hours and 23 minutes of driving.
Legal marijuana in Dayton
Morenci, Michigan is the closest city with recreational weed available at 147 miles or two hours and 43 minutes of driving from Dayton. In terms of drive time, Petersburg is slightly closer at two hours and 30 minutes of driving or 168 miles.
What’s going on with legal weed in Ohio?
Ohio residents might not have to drive far at all to get recreational weed later this year. Ohio’s Division of Cannabis Control could approve recreational licenses for many existing medical dispensaries as early as June.
In the meantime, the only ways of acquiring legal weed in Ohio is with a medical marijuana card or by taking a road trip.
NHart@dispatch.com
@PartofMyHart
The Ohio State Highway Patrol arrested online political writer D.J. Byrnes, also known as The Rooster, at the statehouse on June 1 on a misdemeanor warrant.
A patrol spokesman said Byrnes, who posts his stories to his Substack subscribers, was arrested on an outstanding warrant. He was booked into the Franklin County Jail, records show. The patrol did not provide further details.
Byrnes’ colleague, Max Littman, said he believes the arrest is related to Byrnes texting photos of cartoon character Shrek’s penis to a state senator. “If that is in fact true, that he was arrested over that, then it’s blatant targeting a political opponent and journalist,” Littman said.
The arrest warrant for telecommunications harassment came from the city of Kirtland in Lake County. The warrant alleges that Byrnes sent two photos on May 6 to “J.C.” with the intent to harass.
State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, did not return messages seeking comment.
Byrnes routinely works the halls power at Columbus City Hall, Ohio State University and the Ohio Statehouse, looking for tips and ambushing officeholders for his Substack reports. He can be both charming and confrontational.
Recently, he posted a story based on one anonymous source who told him that Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy tried to get into the New York Knicks locker room after the Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA playoffs.
The story, and its spread, so bothered Ramaswamy that he posted a lengthy refute on X, calling it 100% fake.
State government reporter Laura Bischoff can be reached at lbischoff@usatodayco.com and @lbischoff on X.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — A bird rarely seen in North America was apparently spotted in Northeast Ohio of all places recently.
A lesser frigatebird was seen flying over Sippo Lake near Canton, according to several bird enthusiasts and photographers.
A photographer named Alex Eberts was kind enough to share his photos with ABC 6. You can see them at the top of this page.
Another photographer named Austin Rice posted this photo on Instagram and shared the details of what he saw on the night of May 23 in Stark County.
If you don’t know much about the lesser frigatebird, a site called eBird.com offers this description:
The smallest of the frigatebirds, but note that the female is larger than the male. Adults are easier to identify than younger birds. Adult males are almost entirely black with a red throat and white spurs emanating outwards from the body onto the wing. Adult females have a black belly and throat, a white breast and hind collar, with similar white spurs on their sides. Juvenile and immature plumages are variable and are best separated from other frigatebirds by size when comparison is possible. Mostly silent except while breeding in oceanic islands. Strongly pelagic during non-breeding season but wind-blown or fatigued birds can be found from continental coasts.
Eberts said in his own Facebook post that the May 23 sighting in Stark County was only the seventh reported sighting of the lesser frigatebird in the contiguous United States. The bird is more likely to be seen near the Indian Ocean, the Southeast Asian seas, Northern Australia to Western and Central Pacific Ocean, according to birdsoftheworld.org.
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