OHIO, United States. Voters in the US state of Ohio have rejected proposals to make marijuana legal, according to local media projections.
The measure, known as Issue 3, would have amended the state constitution to legalise the personal and medical use of marijuana for anyone over 21.
But it was defeated by nearly a two-to-one margin, the projections said.
Pro-legalisation campaigners spent about $12m in advertising in the run-up to Tuesday’s vote.
Issue 3 would have granted rights for marijuana to be grown commercially at 10 sites across Ohio, which critics said could have created a monopoly.
The backers of the 10 growing sites had many famous names as investors, including former pop singer Nick Lachey, fashion designer Nanette Lepore and Woody Taft, a descendant of President William Howard Taft.
The legalisation measure would have allowed marijuana, pot-infused sweets and other related products to be purchased in stores. Home-growers could keep up to four flowering marijuana plants.
There was strong opposition to the measure from children’s hospitals, business organisations and farmers.
Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska, along with the District of Columbia, have legalised recreational marijuana.
More than 20 states permit its use for medical purposes.
“We want to carry out the will of the Egyptian people,” he said. “They have been calling for change for four years. We want to honour their choice and will do our best to achieve a better democratic future for them.”
“What has been achieved in our experience may not be the best, but we are going ahead with it and we will make further progress,” he added.
Mr Sisi said the low turnout in the first round of the parliamentary elections last month was neither unexpected nor evidence of growing disillusionment with his rule.
He also defended the anti-terrorism legislation he enacted in August, which activists said further eroded basic rights and enshrined a permanent state of emergency.
President Sisi knows he has a case to make to convince the West – and some in his own country – that he is taking Egypt on the road to what he calls a real democracy.
It’s a case he seems confident he can make even if critics deride him as a dictator. He appears at ease fielding questions on everything from his harsh counter-terrorism law to the West’s failure to stop the rise of the so-called Islamic State in his region.
The former army chief wants to dispel any impression he’s still a military man who now wears a smart blue suit. But security is still clearly uppermost in his mind even as he invokes the spirit that inspired Egyptians nearly five years ago to rise up for greater freedom as well as jobs and bread.
After all, he says, if Egyptians decide they don’t want him in power they can now vote him out. But he speaks with the confidence of a man who believes he will be at the helm for a while.
“We want some stability,” he explained. “We don’t want to do this by force or suppression. We want to regulate and organise society.”
The president said critics in the West had to appreciate the threats faced by Egypt, where jihadist militants have killed at least 600 security personnel over the past two years.
“Give me the environment in Europe to be available here in Egypt, and you will never need anything of the kind,” Mr Sisi insisted.
What millions of Egyptians wanted most of all, he added, was a decent standard of living.
Credit: BBC
