Politics
Ohio Senate Rejects House Changes To Bill Scaling Back Voter-Approved Marijuana Law And Restricting Hemp Sales
An Ohio bill to significantly revise the state’s marijuana program, while adding new restrictions to the hemp market, has hit a roadblock—with the Senate soundly rejecting the latest amended version that advanced out of the House.
The legislation from Sen. Stephen Huffman (R) first passed the Senate in February before reaching the House floor last week, where members approved substantive changes scaling back certain controversial provisions but still maintained language advocates say undermines the will of voters who approved legalization in 2023.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted unanimously, 32-0, not to concur with the House amendments, potentially setting the stage for a bicameral conference committee to resolve differences between the chambers.
On the floor, senators from both major parties spoke out in opposition to SB 56 as revised by the House. But much of their focus concerned provisions related to intoxicating hemp products.
“When Senate Bill 56 passed from the House, they failed to close the loophole for synthetic THC,” Sen. Shane Wilkin (R) said. “Additionally, this would allow for the continued sale of untested, unregulated [products]—which means packages that are designed and directed toward kids. They’re not child-proof.”
Watch the Senate’s debate on the cannabis bill, starting around 24:45 into the video below:
He also took issue with a language in the current bill that would give a 300-day grace period for businesses selling unsanctioned product to close shop.Further, the senator complained that, as drafted, the legislation wouldn’t include zoning restrictions to prevent the over-saturation of hemp retailers or having them located near marijuana dispensaries. And local governments would not be able to outright ban the hemp businesses from operating in their jurisdiction.
Sen. William DeMora (D) concurred with his colleague, saying “there’s so much in this bill that has changed from what we passed here—a lot of it not for the better.”
“The governor tried to do something and was stopped because he didn’t do it the proper way to make sure now that we can do something to end these things [and] to get them out of the hands of kids,” he said, referring to Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) executive order temporarily banning sales of intoxicating hemp products that is being held up amid a legal challenge.
Senate President Robert McColley (R) separately said on Wednesday that he thinks it’s “abundantly clear we need a regulatory structure around intoxicating hemp products,” but his chamber’s “concerns today, as were pretty well enumerated, are that there were a number of loopholes that were left in this bill.”
While the current bill’s supporters have described it as a less heavy-handed approach compared to the original Senate measure, the legislation would make substantive changes to the existing legalization law—with several provisions that advocates say directly contradict the will of voters and represent overreach on the part of lawmakers.
For example, the proposal would eliminate language in current statute providing anti-discrimination protections for people who lawfully use cannabis. That includes protections meant to prevent adverse actions in the context of child custody rights, the ability to qualify for organ transplants and professional licensing.
It would also recriminalize possessing marijuana from any source that isn’t a state-licensed dispensary in Ohio or from a legal homegrow. As such, people could be charged with a crime for carrying cannabis they bought at a legal retailer in neighboring Michigan.
Additionally, it would ban smoking cannabis at outdoor public locations such as bar patios—and it would allow landlords to prohibit vaping marijuana at rented homes. Violating that latter policy, even if it involves vaping in a person’s own backyard at a rental home, would constitute a misdemeanor offense.
Unlike the Senate-passed version of the bill, the House substitute would send tax revenue from cannabis sales to local governments.
Stores and breweries would be permitted to sell hemp-derived THC drinks, with new advertising restrictions meant to prevent appealing to youth. Products for on-site consumption would be limited to 5 mg of THC, but adults could buy take-home drinks containing up to 10 mg. More potent drinks could also be manufactured in Ohio, but only for sales to people outside the state.
There would also be a new $1.20 tax per gallon on hemp beverages created by the bill.
This latest Senate vote on concurrence comes weeks after the governor issued emergency rules prohibiting the sale of intoxicating hemp products for 90 days, with instructions to the legislature to consider permanent regulations. Earlier this month, however, a county judge enjoined the state from enforcing that policy in response to a legal challenge.
“Frankly, the legislature had not taken action,” the governor said in an interview published last week. “I’m still hopeful that the legislature will come in and actually take action.”
House Speaker Matt Huffman (R) commented recently on the relative lack of progress in advancing marijuana and hemp legislation since voters approved legalization at the ballot in 2023, noting substantive divides within the Republican caucus.
There are “folks who believe that marijuana should be legalized and regulated,” others “who believe that the hemp products should be on equal standing with everything that happened in the initiated statute and then “folks, like me, who are prohibitionists, who don’t think it should be legalized at all and it should be rare,” he said.
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Meanwhile, last month, the Ohio Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) filed new proposed rules to build upon the state’s marijuana legalization law, laying out plans to update regulations on labeling and packaging requirements.
The proposal came weeks after Ohio medical and adult-use marijuana sales officially crossed $3 billion, data from the state Department of Commerce (DOC) shows.
The state sold about $703 million in recreational cannabis in the law’s first year of implementation, according to DCC data.
In March, a survey of 38 municipalities by the Ohio State University’s (OSU) Moritz College of Law found that local leaders were “unequivocally opposed” to earlier proposals that would have stripped the planned funding.
Meanwhile in Ohio, adults as of June are able to buy more than double the amount of marijuana than they were under previous limits, with state officials determining that the market can sustainably supply both medical cannabis patients and adult consumers.
The governor in March separately announced his desire to reallocate marijuana tax revenue to support police training, local jails and behavioral health services. He said funding police training was a top priority, even if that wasn’t included in what voters passed in 2023.
Ohio’s Senate president has also pushed back against criticism of the Senate bill, claiming the legislation does not disrespect the will of the electorate and would have little impact on products available in stores.
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
