Without action from the General Assembly or the Governor, by collecting more signature of a quantity again meeting the above-mentioned requirements, the group can force to send it to voters on the November ballot.

On August 3, more than ten times the remaining number required to validate the initiative for the November ballot were turned in to the secretary of state.

“The recreational cannabis petition collected 136,000 verified signatures, enough to get considered by the General Assembly, but would require an additional 132,877 signatures to proceed to the ballot.”[15] The largest organized opposition comes from the Center for Christian Virtue, which believes legalized cannabis will produce negative impacts on neighborhoods and society's drug addiction problems.

The main proponent behind the ballot initiative is the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA), which dismissed the Center for Christian Virtue's opposition as "Prohibition-style talking points from 20 years ago.

"[15] In October 2023, Republican Senate President Matt Huffman warned that state legislators may repeal key provisions of Issue 2 if it passed.

[16] On November 8, the day after polling, top Republican leaders in Ohio indicated the possibility of overturning the measures approved by the voters in the ballot, along with those of Issue 1 on abortion.

"[41] While Issue 2 mandates that marijuana tax revenue should be used to regulate marijuana, support substance abuse services, assist industry business owners and fund local governments where recreational business owners exist, Ohio House leader Jason Stephens, also a Republican, called for the Ohio "legislature to lead on how best to allocate tax revenues", and proposed "county jail construction and funding law enforcement training".