On a cold day in January 2014, political strategist Ian James rode the elevator with two lawyers to the 11th floor of the Scripps Center to arrive at the office of a Cincinnati wheeler-dealer. The four men sat down, made some small talk. Then James took a deep breath and made his pitch for an Ohio revolution.

“I had not met Jimmy Gould before,” James recalled, “so I just asked if he were interested in the legalization of marijuana for personal use or for medical use. I didn’t know how this was going to go over. But no sooner had the words come out of my mouth, Jimmy said, ‘I’m in.’ “

That meeting set in motion the machine that now is ResponsibleOhio, the best-financed legalization campaign the nation has seen in the nearly 20 years since the marijuana movement forced the first cracks in prohibition.

If successful, ResponsibleOhio’s radical plan for the Buckeye State could revolutionize the national discussion about marijuana – and the financial, political and legal muscle of Cincinnati will be the foundation. James and the investors believe Ohio could lead the next phase of the New Green Revolution – where marijuana becomes a legitimate business that by 2020 would bring in $500 million a year in state tax revenue alone. [Read more at the Cincinnati Enquirer]