Dealing with Crohn’s disease since he was a kid, Terrell Washington felt stuck — Until he was able to access marijuana.
“It got me off of medication and got me into remission with my Crohn’s disease because of using cannabis,” Washington told me.
He knew he wanted to help people like him, which is why he founded Leaf Relief dispensary, which has now been selling marijuana to both medical patients and recreational users.
“Business has been good, but as we’ve learned, never get too comfortable with cannabis in Ohio,” he said.
In Nov. of 2023, voters overwhelmingly passed Issue 2 — which allowed adults 21 years of age and older to smoke, vape and ingest weed. Individual Ohioans are able to grow up to six plants with up to 12 per household. Dispensaries have been able to sell recreationally since Aug. 6, 2024.
Since then, lawmakers have been trying to change the law. Marijuana in Ohio costs triple that of Michigan, yet state lawmakers want to make it even more expensive and less potent.
Recently, Republicans have introduced Senate Bill 56, which has dozens of changes, but most notably would decrease the THC content and limit home growing from 12 plants to six.
“When we legalized marijuana, there were a whole group of societal problems that were created by that,” House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said.
“We’re trying to move it [to be] a little bit more reasonable — continue to have adult use, but a little bit more reasonable usage,” state Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) said during the question and answer portion of his bill sponsor testimony.
THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid, would be capped at 100 milligrams per package. Of the 61 edible products to buy on Leaf Relief’s site, only 12 were under 100mg. It also reduces the allowable THC levels in adult-use extracts from a max of 90% to 70%.
The bill would also raise the cost. Right now, there is a 10% tax at the point of sale. The GOP legislation would raise that to 15%, but Gov. Mike DeWine proposed increasing it to 20%.
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