Ohio House lawmakers on Tuesday approved an amended Senate-passed bill that would make significant changes to the state’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law while incorporating a series of regulations for hemp that are meant to align the two sectors of the cannabis industry.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee agreed to changes to the measure from Sen. Stephen Huffman (R) before advancing it to other panels and an expected floor vote on Wednesday. But while certain controversial provisions of the bill as passed by the Senate were scaled back, it would still make major changes to the marijuana law voters approved in 2023.
The measure will now go to the Rules Committee before being re-referred to the Finance Committee, after which point it’s expected to receive floor action.
“We’ve had years of testimony. We’ve heard from marijuana advocates, hemp advocates, public health advocates and everyone in between,” Rep. Brian Stewart (R) said. “We are generally going to take the feedback from the hemp industry, which said, ‘Treat us like marijuana,” he said. “They will have the same potency limitations, the same advertising restrictions, the same restrictions on quantities, serving size and how they operate.”
Rep. Jamie Callender (R), who has led the charge on marijuana policy in the House, said ahead of the vote that the revised bill would be “very thoughtful and targeted.” But at the hearing, he added that the legislation is “not perfect” or what he would have drafted.
“It’s a bill that can get passed that will help us implement some of the elements of Issue 2 that have been held up and give clarity to the rulemakers on some of the points that are outstanding,” he said, referring to the voter-approved legalization measure. “It also clarifies and cements a few of the gains that were gained over the years: Sharing, home grow, no new prosecutions [and] the taxes going to the local governments.”
Under the amended legislation, stores and breweries would be permitted to sell hemp-derived THC beverages, 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.
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There would be a new $1.20 tax per gallon on hemp beverages created by the bill, and Stewart said it will “create a pathway for legal, regulated, licensed hemp dispensaries.”
“Nobody has ever voted to allow functionally equivalent products to marijuana—hemp products—to be sold in 6,000 plus gas stations and grocery stores around the state,” he said. “And so with this bill, we would say that you can buy intoxicating hemp products in licensed hemp dispensaries. We are not going to have intoxicating hemp available to any establishment that admits persons who are under the age of 21.”
Advocates remain concerned about other marijuana-related provisions of the Senate bill that were left intact. That includes the elimination of language in the current voter-approved law providing anti-discrimination protections for people who lawfully use cannabis and the recriminalization of possessing marijuana from any source that isn’t a state-licensed dispensary.
“It is profoundly disappointing to see the House Judiciary Committee advance legislation to roll back cannabis freedoms and protections that Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved,” Karen O’Keefe, director of states policies at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), told Marijuana Moment. “The committee substitute would open the door to harassment and interrogation of cannabis consumers by criminalizing any cannabis that wasn’t home grown or obtained from an Ohio retailer. It would also remove protections that prevent responsible cannabis consumers from losing their children, professions, and even their lives for cannabis use.”
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