Proposed legislation in Ohio would limit the sale of marijuana and similar substances, such as “intoxicating hemp products,” to licensed dispensaries, a move that proponents said maintains voters’ overall will to legalize adult-use marijuana in Ohio.
The state Senate passed Senate Bill 86 on Wednesday, restricting the sale of hemp and delta-8 to licensed dispensaries. The bill now heads to the state House, where a similar measure, House Bill 160, has been introduced.
State Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, said HB 160 “retains the core provisions” in Issue 2, including the approved levels of how much Ohioans can grow at home, with no reductions in the number of allowable plants of 12 per adult in a household and the existing tax rate of 10% “to keep adult-use marijuana users from resorting to black market products, or worse yet, traveling to Michigan.”
However, the measure also addresses concerns raised by Ohioans since Issue 2’s passage and bars the use of marijuana in public spaces and marketing products to children. It also allows employers to enact drug-free workplace policies.
“Additionally, House Bill 160 closes a loophole that presently allows intoxicating hemp products such as delta-8, delta-9, and THC beverages to be sold in gas stations, and too often, to minors,” Stewart said in prepared testimony to the House Judiciary Committee.
“These products are almost indistinguishable from marijuana and should be treated the same as the product that Ohioans voted to be sold exclusively through state-regulated dispensaries,” Stewart added. “Simply put, if it gets you high, it should be sold through a dispensary.”
In November 2023, Ohio voters approved Issue 2, which regulates the sale of marijuana much like alcohol. More than 57% of Buckeye State voters cast ballots in favor of the measure.
In prepared testimony, the Ohio Cannabis Coalition said the unregulated sale and distribution of intoxicating hemp products is “an urgent threat facing Ohio today.”
“Taking advantage of an accidental loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill, gas stations, smoke shops, and convenience stores are now selling highly intoxicating, synthetically produced products, like delta 8 and delta 10, with no oversight,” David Bowling, executive director of the Ohio Cannabis Coalition, said in prepared testimony. “Not only do these products contain dangerously high levels of intoxicants but also contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, mold, and bacteria. This is not what Ohioans, or the legislature, voted to legalize.
“These products pose a safety risk to all Ohioans, but we are especially concerned for Ohio’s youth,” Bowling added. “In our industry, no one under the age of 21 years old is able to enter a dispensary, let alone attempt to buy products. For the intoxicating hemp industry? Not only are these products sold to people of all ages, but they often use colorful packaging resembling candy and cartoon characters, alongside the logos and trademarks of popular candy and snack foods, to market them directly to children.”
In prepared testimony, Ohio Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Rick Carfagna, a former House member, said the group “firmly believes that publicly accessible places such as shopping malls, restaurants and bars, amusement parks, and other large areas under private ownership should be able to limit cannabis use, possession, or transfer beyond the state’s existing smoking ban.
“To address this ambiguity, we believe the best way to achieve this outcome is to outlaw public use, which HB 160 achieves by limiting the smoking, combustion, and vaporization of recreational marijuana to private residences,” Carfagna added. “Furthermore, the revisions also align with the OCC’s request to empower rental property owners to ban the use of marijuana products on their properties.”
Stewart said HB 160 directs “the bulk of the tax revenue from marijuana sales to [the] general fund where it will remain subject to Ohio’s elected leaders’ determinations of where those funds should be spent in each biennial budget.” It also provides an expedited pathway to expunge prior convictions for marijuana-related offenses.
A second measure, House Bill 198, establishes a statutory framework to regulate hemp-derived consumable products under the Department of Agriculture’s purview.
