Ohio lawmakers have pivoted from their intentions to regulate intoxicating hemp products and instead are headed for a more restrictive approach that mirrors a federal ban that was tucked into last week’s government funding deal.
Currently, there are no regulations governing Ohio’s hemp-derived cannabinoid marketplace, meaning gas stations, vape shops and grocery stores can sell intoxicating products that aren’t accurately labeled and aren’t required to be tested for harmful molds or pesticides. Without legislative action, there are no ramifications for selling these products to minors, with packaging that’s enticing to children being a primary concern of Gov. Mike DeWine.
Ohio’s House thought it had the answer: regulate the marketplace like alcohol and cannabis.
Under a 228-page bill that House lawmakers passed in an 87-8 vote on Oct. 22, the Buckeye State was poised to allow licensed “hemp dispensaries” to sell cannabinoid products containing up to 2 milligrams of delta-9 THC per package or up to 0.5 milligrams of total non-delta-9 THC (such as delta-8) per package.
However, the Ohio Senate rejected the House’s amendments to the legislation, Senate Bill 56, which the upper chamber originally passed in February. The proposal also intends to alter the state’s 2023 voter-approved cannabis legalization initiative.
The Senate’s rejection on Oct. 29 sent the legislation to a conference committee comprised of three senators and three representatives to hammer out the cross-chamber differences.
Before the negotiations could fully unfold, President Donald Trump signed an appropriations package on Nov. 12 that federally prohibits intoxicating hemp products in one year.
This federal change influenced Ohio’s committee conferees to replace their bill provisions with the new federal standards that narrow the scope of what’s considered hemp.
Under a deal struck in Ohio’s six-member committee, the latest proposal is that hemp would not include any final hemp-derived cannabinoid product that:
- Exceeds 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container (including THCA)
- Contains cannabinoids that aren’t capable of being naturally produced by the plant (e.g., HHC)
- Contains cannabinoids that are capable of being naturally produced but were synthesized or manufactured outside of the plant (e.g., delta-8 THC).
As a result of this conference committee amendment, any products that fall outside this scope would be considered marijuana and sold exclusively in the state’s licensed cannabis dispensaries.
The Ohio House voted, 52-34, at about 1 a.m. on Nov. 20 to adopt the conference committee report for the legislation. The Ohio Senate won’t likely vote on the report until it returns to session after the Thanksgiving holiday.
“The United States Congress … took a vote to close what they believe to be an intoxicating hemp loophole at the federal level,” Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, said early Thursday morning on the Ohio House floor. “Federal law is enforceable in Ohio, and as a result, the intoxicating hemp products that we [intended to regulate] will now be illegal at the federal level.”
Stewart said the new federal law affected what the conference committee could “legally accomplish” on the bill.
Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake, who also served on the conference committee, disagreed, suggesting that Ohio could regulate intoxicating hemp products differently than federal law, just like the state does with adult-use and medical cannabis.
“I keep hearing, time and time again, ‘the feds took it out of our hands,’ as if we are not the General Assembly, as if our Ohio Revised Code [hasn’t] already legalized a product that the feds have banned,” she said. “We could make the choice to legalize and regulate hemp, or not. That is still our decision today.
“So, what is changing is, we agreed to have hemp products in safe dispensaries limited with our control and regulation. That is now gone.”
While the federal government provided a one-year off-ramp for hemp-related businesses to comply with its new THC restrictions, Sweeney pointed out that the conference committee report provides Ohio businesses just three months.
The committee also amended the bill to eliminate a permanent “drinkable cannabinoid product” (DCP) program in Ohio, replacing it with a temporary program that would remain in effect until the end of 2026.
Under the House-passed proposal from last month, DCPs were to be regulated differently from other intoxicating hemp products: DCPs could contain up to 10 milligrams (high level) of total THC per container at places like grocery and liquor stores that offer carryout only, and up to 5 milligrams (low level) at places like restaurants and bars that offer on-site consumption.
However, the conference committee eliminated the high-level and low-level categories.
Stewart indicated that Ohio would extend its DCP legalization program beyond 2026 only if the federal government does the same.
House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, took issue with that.
“That is a massive market for jobs. It’s a huge consumer market,” he said. “Businesses need to be able to plan. These are small businesses. They don’t have a ton of capital. And so, they needed a commitment from the Legislature that we were going to create a safe and regulated market for these incredibly desirable products that people are buying that are fueling the craft brewery industry. Instead … sorry guys, good luck after December 31st, 2026.”
Stewart responded to the Democratic arguments just before the final vote.
“It’s interesting to hear this description of this bizarro world in which federal law is just kind of a suggestion that we don’t have to follow,” he said. “We fought a civil war over this, OK? The supremacy clause exists. Federal law applies. It’s not a technicality; it’s the law.”
Democrats in the minority party also took issue with provisions related to the state’s cannabis laws passed by voters in the 2023 election.
The House-approved bill preserves many aspects of the voter-approved initiative, such as home grows (six per adult or 12 per household), sharing between adults 21 and older, and allocating 36% of cannabis excise tax revenues to local municipalities that host dispensaries.
However, the bill would prohibit public consumption at places like music concerts and bar patios, and those caught with cannabis purchased outside the state would be criminalized. No other state where cannabis is legal imposes such restrictions on out-of-state purchases, according to cannabis advocacy group NORML.
“You can be charged with a crime for having legal weed in a different package than what you bought it in,” Sweeney said before Thursday’s House vote. “You can be charged with a crime for buying legal weed in Michigan. No other state that has legal weed has a prohibition on buying legal weed in another state.”
Sweeney also argued that Ohioans could lose their jobs, benefits and custody of their children, and be denied medical care, such as an organ transplant, or be evicted from their homes, under the cannabis-related provisions of the proposal.
“2.2 million Ohioans said that they wanted,” she said. “There’s not many times that they actually get to tell us with their vote directly what they wanted.”
The conference committee also changed the expungement process from what was originally passed by the House last month. Under the committee report, Ohioans can have their prior cannabis possession offenses expunged for up to 100 grams of cannabis, instead of up to 200 grams.
Both Sweeney and Isaacsohn suggested that lawmakers should have focused on issues that both parties agreed on – such as regulating intoxicating hemp products in manners that protect children and preserving the host community cannabis fund that voters wanted – rather than using those issues as a vehicle to pass partisan ones.
Stewart acknowledged the “wide range” of opinions on cannabis and hemp from both caucuses and in both legislative chambers.
“Any compromise requires all of us to accept some things in this bill that we like and some things in this bill that we do not like, but we have been debating these issues for years,” he said. “It’s time to do our jobs to make a decision and address the issues that are facing our state.”
