The Ohio House and Senate were scheduled for the final session of the calendar year Dec. 13, and lawmakers adjourned for 2023 without taking up potential changes to the state’s voter-approved adult-use cannabis law.
House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, said earlier this week that proposals to tweak Issue 2, which passed with 57% support in the Nov. 7 election, would not make it to the floor as negotiations continue among lawmakers in both chambers of the General Assembly, according to a WVXU report.
While lawmakers, led by Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, initially planned changes to multiple provisions in Issue 2, including possession limits, tax rates, tax revenue allocations, THC potency caps, dispensary license limits and a ban on home cultivation, they reversed course Dec. 6, when the Senate General Government Committee unanimously approved revisions to a bill that aligns more closely with the voter-approved measure.
House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said the General Assembly may be discussing potential changes to Ohio’s adult-use cannabis program into January or even later into 2024, WVXU reported.
“There are some points that we are very aligned on,” Russo said, according to the news outlet. “But there seems to be misalignment between the house and the senate and the governor on some key points.”
