A marijuana plant in a flowering room on August 17, 2023 at the PharmaCann, Inc. cultivation and processing facility. in Buckeye Lake, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal. Only repost photo with original story.)
Early Thursday morning, Ohio lawmakers passed a bill that would ban intoxicating cannabis products and make changes to the state’s marijuana laws.
The Ohio House of Representatives passed the resolution by a 52-34 majority Ohio Senate Bill 56sending it to the Senate.
Ohio Republicans Thaddeus Claggett, Levi Dean, Brian Lorenz, Jason Stephens, DJ Swearingen and Michelle Teska joined Ohio Democrats in voting against the bill around 1 a.m. Thursday morning.
The vote in the House took place after the bill was adopted it was originally scheduled to go before the conference committee on Wednesday morning, but the meeting didn’t take place until just before midnight Wednesday.
Ohio State Sen. Bill DeMora, R-Columbia, proposed a dozen amendments during the conference committee, but none of them were adopted.
The Ohio Senate has a session scheduled for Dec. 10 if necessary, and Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, expressed confidence that the Senate will pass the bill.
Republican lawmakers on the conference committee said many adjustments needed to be made.
“We were so close that it all came together and we didn’t want to leave, being so close to where we are,” said Ohio State Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City. “I think we reached a good compromise.”
Huffman introduced the bill in January and originally introduced it to the Senate passed the law in Februarybut the House made major changes, most notably adding provisions for intoxicating cannabis.
The The Ohio House passed Ohio SB 56 in October in a bipartisan vote and Ohio Senate voted unanimously a week later, disagree with the changes made to the bill by sending it to the conference committee.
After the bill was sent to the conference committee in slow October, changes were made to hemp at the federal level.
Recently Congress I voted to ban products containing 0.4 milligrams of total THC per package earlier this month when they voted to reopen the government.
Previously volThe 2018 Farm Bill states that hemp can be grown legally if it contains less than 0.3% THC.
The federal hemp ban comes with a one-year delay, but states can create their own regulatory framework before then.
“When it comes to hemp, the actions of the federal government certainly impacted what we had to do,” Huffman said.
Ohio’s bill follows recent federal changes by prohibiting the sale of intoxicating cannabis products outside licensed marijuana dispensaries.
“When it comes to intoxicating cannabis products, we basically cut to the chase,” said Ohio Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville.
“We have already selected most of the retailers where they can be sold. That will start. They will have a 90-day runway, which is written into the bill. After that, all of these products will either be sold in marijuana dispensaries or they will not be allowed to be sold.”
If the Ohio Senate passes Ohio SB 56 in December and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs the bill into law before the recent year, Ohio’s intoxicating cannabis laws could go into effect as early as March.
Ohio SB 56 allows the production, distribution and sale of five-milligram THC beverages through December 31, 2026.
“There is aspirational language here that legislative leaders have agreed on that says that if the federal government takes action and makes (THC drinks) legal again, our intention is to go back and have legislation that creates the structure and makes THC drinks legal again,” Stewart said.
On October 8, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced a 90-day shutdown executive order prohibiting the sale of intoxicating cannabis products it started on October 14, but a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge ordered short-lived restraining order at DeWine’s ban until December 2.
On marijuana, the bill would lower the THC level in adult-use marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90% to a maximum of 70%, limit the THC level in adult-use flower to 35%, and ban smoking in most public places.
Ohio SB 56 would provide 36% of revenue from adult-use marijuana sales to municipalities and municipalities that have recreational marijuana dispensaries. The bill also maintains the 10% tax rate on recreational marijuana and maintains the same crop at home, with six plants per adult and 12 per household.
Ohioans passed a citizen-initiated bill legalize recreational marijuana in 2023 with 57% of the votes and sales started in August 2024.
Ohio lawmakers can change the law because it was passed as a citizen initiative, not a constitutional amendment they have been trying to do this since the end of 2023.
“(Ohio SB 56) fundamentally undermines the will of the voter and what they think they want,” said the bride, state Rep. Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake. “They told us at the ballot box. They said we need to stop punishing adults for responsible use.”
Ohio recreational marijuana sales exceeded $702.5 million in the first year.
“People wanted to be able to smoke where they wanted, to be able to have neighbors swap marijuana and see whose brand was better,” DeMora said. “This bill does none of those things.”
Ohio Republicans disagree.
“I don’t think it goes against the will of the voters,” said Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman. “You could say we got 57% of the vote, but is it the will of all people to be allowed to smoke marijuana cigarettes while walking to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game? I don’t think so.”
Follow a Capital Journal reporter Megan Henry in Bluesky.
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