A state charter amendment to legalize recreational and medical marijuana and another to stop monopolies are driving voter turnout in the Mahoning Valley.

But election officials say turnout for Tuesday’s election won’t be high.

“Those two issues are the main reasons people are voting in this election,” said Adam Booth, Columbiana County Board of Elections director. “There isn’t much else on the ballot except for a few mayor and trustee races.”

State Issue 3 would legalize the use of marijuana for anyone 21 and older. Marijuana could be grown commercially only at 10 locations owned by investors bankrolling the initiative.

Voters in Ohio will decide Nov. 3 whether to become the fifth U.S. state to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, 

As in other states, legalization will be decided by way of a ballot that would lift criminal penalties for growing marijuana at home and possessing up to an ounce of the plant.

Voters in Oregon and Alaska last November approved the use of marijuana for recreational purposes, following approvals in Colorado and Washington state. Marijuana is also now legal in the District of Colombia, the U.S. capital.

Ohio better vote no for the Marijuana monopoly — Jack Herer (@KeKoJoNeZ) October 31, 201

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — A 21-year-old was shot and killed after he was trying to buy marijuana at a South Dallas gas station Friday night, police say.

Officers found the victim dead in the back of an ambulance when they responded to the shooting around 11:45 p.m. at the intersection of Dolphin Road and Military Parkway, Dallas police say. David Len McGary was trying to buy marijuana from an unknown man, possibly 20 to 25 years old, in the Texaco gas station parking lot before he was shot, according to DPD.

Dallas police are still investigating.

Police say the McGary and the suspect had gotten into an altercation, with several witnesses around, which led to the suspect pulling out a handgun.

LIMA — The issue of marijuana legalization in the state of Ohio has been a heated discussion to say the least, with people on both sides of the issue stating valid cases.

Former Lima resident Nicole Scholten has been a willing participant in that argument.

The 1987 graduate of Lima Senior, who now lives in Cincinnati, has an 11-year-old daughter named Lucy who has been diagnosed with intractable epilepsy. She has also been diagnosed with several other conditions, including cerebral palsy. Lucy suffers as many as 300 seizures in the course of a day.

A Michigan attorney is asserting that prosecutors forced state criminal activity laboratories to change the way THC is reported in tests. According to Michigan Live, lawyer Michael Komorn declares that scientists were instructed to report an unknown origin for THC consisted of in edibles, wax and oil.

Under this technique, the THC would be reported as a synthetic compound instead of marijuana, which is a two-year felony.

This week I had the good fortune to cover the SW Cannabis Conference and Expo in my first gig with CannabisRadio.com.

MADRID –  Spanish and Portuguese police say they have dismantled an organization that used powerboats to import large quantities of drugs into Spain from Morocco and have arrested 15 suspects.

A statement says surveillance began when evidence emerged of a large-scale, well-organized smuggling operation based in southwestern Spain.

The gang allegedly used a network of specially-equipped piers and warehouses to receive drugs and was able to move part of its operation to southern Portugal when it discovered its activities were being watched, Saturday's statement says.

That is wrong. That has got to change…A criminal record could include not only time in jail, but a criminal record makes it harder for a person to get a job, harder for a person to get public benefits, harder for a person to even get housing.

Marijuana has been something of an unstoppable force over the past two decades. After being completely outlawed in all states in 1995, marijuana in 2015 can now be legally sold in 23 states for medicinal purposes (as well as Washington, D.C.), and it can be sold legally for recreational use to adults ages 21 and up in four states (and Washington, D.C.).

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — Twelve tons of marijuana being smuggled from Paraguay into Argentina aboard a tanker truck were seized Friday in an affluent suburb of Buenos Aires, officials said.

The driver, a Paraguayan national, was held for questioning.

Daniel Scioli, the governor of Buenos Aires province, called it the "largest seizure in the history" of his country.

Scioli will face a conservative rival, Mauricio Macri, in a run-off for the Argentine presidency on November 22.

The police operation Friday took place in San Isidro, a northern suburb of the Argentine capital and one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the region.