Ohio Campaign to Block Cannabis Policy Changes Fails to Qualify for Ballot

The Ohioans for Cannabis Choice campaign, which sought to repeal recent
hemp and cannabis legislation at the ballot box, has failed to gather
enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, the Ohio Capital Journal
reports.

Republican lawmakers in Ohio passed Senate Bill 56 last year, which changes
the state’s voter-approved adult-use cannabis policies and targets the
state’s hemp industry with sweeping bans on most hemp-derived cannabinoids.
Attorney General Dave Yost initially rejected the campaign’s title and
summary language but then approved the petition in February after the
campaign submitted revisions.

The campaign did not release the number of signatures they had gathered,
but it would have needed at least 248,092 signatures from a wide spread of
counties to qualify.

“Unfortunately, we were not able to overcome a truncated time period to
give voters the chance to say no to government overreach.” — Dennis
Willard, spokesperson for Ohioans for Cannabis Choice, in a statement

The new rules, which take effect starting March 20, set new maximum THC
levels for cannabis concentrates (70%) and flower products (35%), and ban
the possession of cannabis products sourced from outside of Ohio. Cannabis
consumers in the state are also now required to store cannabis products in
their original packaging.