Ohio Cannabis Activists Resubmit Referendum Petition After Attorney General Rejects Initial ‘Misleading’ Version

Ohio activists have resubmitted a revised referendum petition to block
parts of a restrictive marijuana and hemp law from going into effect after
the attorney general had rejected an initial version he said was
“misleading.”

“Upon review of the summary, we identified omissions and misstatements
that, as a whole, would mislead a potential signer as to the scope and
effect of S.B. 56,” Attorney General Dave Yost (R) wrote in a letter to the
petitioners last week regarding their first proposal.

The referendum, led by Ohioans for Cannabis Choice, seeks to repeal key
components of a bill the governor recently signed to scale back the state’s
voter-approved marijuana law and ban the sale of consumable hemp products
outside of licensed cannabis dispensaries.

The group submitted an initial batch of signatures to get the referendum
process started last month. They have now submitted another batch with the
redrafted version.

“We have addressed each and every issue raised by Ohio Attorney General
Dave Yost, and we are confident our new petition summary language will be
approved,” Dennis Willard, a spokesperson for Ohioans for Cannabis Choice,
said.

“We are determined to give voters the chance to say no to SB 56 in
November, no to government overreach, no to shuttering 6,000 small
businesses in Ohio, and no to lawmakers who dared to deliver a slap in the
face to Ohioans who overwhelmingly voted to make cannabis legal in 2023,”
he said.

We have a new petition and we need 1,000 signatures. You can sign at one of
these three locations tonight. Please share. @seventhsonbrew
@JackieosBrewery @GLBCinColumbus pic.twitter.com/w9yDOlQTf8

— Ohioans for Cannabis Choice (@OH4cannabis) January 15, 2026

Yost had argued that several aspects of the initial petition summary were
misleading.

For example it contained “two very similar descriptions” of the definition
of hemp, the attorney general said, meaning that “a potential signer would
likely be misled as to the character and import of this definition.”

The submission also “inaccurately” stated that SB 56 “permits delivery of
adult use cannabis,” Yost said. “Nowhere in the bill is the division of
cannabis control authorized to adopt rules on the delivery of adult-use
cannabis.”

The summary additionally “inaccurately states that felony offenses are
disqualifying for cannabis-related licensure,” the letter claimed, pointing
out that Gov. Mike DeWine (R) vetoed that provision and it is thus not part
of the enacted law.

“The summary inaccurately states S.B. 56 repealed a prohibition of license
holders offering gifts, samples or other free or discounted adult-use
marijuana products,” Yost added. “This is false. First, no such prohibition
was repealed by S.B. 56. Instead, the bill directs the division of cannabis
control to ‘establish standards prohibiting the use of gifts, samples, or
other free or discounted goods or
services to induce or reward a license holder for business or referrals.'”

Also, the petition “misleads the reader into believing that S.B. 56 gives
local governments the authority to pass ordinances that prohibit or limit
the rights of license holders and/or prohibit other activities that are
permitted under statewide cannabis control laws,” the attorney general’s
letter said.

Finally, Yost said that the petition summary “incorrectly states” that the
bill authorizes local governments to levy excise taxes on recreational
cannabis sales.

“The above instances are just a few examples of the summary’s omissions and
misstatements, and further review will be undertaken should the matter be
resubmitted,” Yost told organizers in the letter.

The new submission will go through a similar vetting by the attorney
general’s officer before activists are cleared to collect a total of about
250,000 signatures to make the ballot.

DeWine’s office and a senator who led the charge to pass SB 56 have criticized
the cannabis referendum campaign.

In general, the proposed referendum would repeal the first three core
sections of SB 56, a controversial bill that DeWine signed into law last
month that he says is intended to crack down on the unregulated
intoxicating hemp market. But the legislation would do more than restrict
the sale of cannabinoid products to dispensaries.

The law also recriminalizes certain marijuana activity that was legalized
under the ballot initiative voters approved in 2023, and it’d additionally
remove anti-discrimination protections for cannabis consumers that were
enacted under that law.

The governor additionally used his line-item veto powers to cancel a
section of the bill that would have delayed the implementation of the ban
on hemp beverages.

Advocates and stakeholders strongly protested the now-enacted legislation,
arguing that it undermines the will of voters who approved cannabis
legalization and would effectively eradicate the state’s hemp industry, as
there are low expectations that adults will opt for hemp-based products
over marijuana when they visit a dispensary.

The pushback inspired the newly filed referendum—but the path to
successfully blocking the law is narrow.

If activists reach the signature threshold by the deadline, which coincides
with the same day the restrictive law is to take effect, SB 56 would not be
implemented until voters got a chance to decide on the issue at the ballot.

A summary of the submitted referendum states that “Sections 1, 2, and 3 of
Am. Sub. S. B. No. 56 enact new provisions and amend and repeal existing
provisions of the Ohio Revised Code that relate to the regulation,
criminalization, and taxation of cannabis products, such as the sale, use,
possession, cultivation, license, classification, transport, and
manufacture of marijuana and certain hemp products.”

“If a majority of the voters vote to not approve Sections 1, 2, and 3 of
the Act, then the enacted changes will not take effect and the prior
version of the affected laws will remain in effect,” it says.

Advocates have flagged a series of concerns with the law, pointing out, for
example, that it would eliminate language in statute providing
anti-discrimination protections for people who lawfully use cannabis. That
includes protections meant to prevent adverse actions in the context of
child custody rights, the ability to qualify for organ transplants and
professional licensing.

It would also recriminalize possessing marijuana from any source that isn’t
a state-licensed dispensary in Ohio or from a legal homegrow. As such,
people could be charged with a crime for carrying cannabis they bought at a
legal retailer in neighboring Michigan.

Additionally, it would ban smoking cannabis at outdoor public locations
such as bar patios—and it would allow landlords to prohibit vaping
marijuana at rented homes. Violating that latter policy, even if it
involves vaping in a person’s own backyard at a rental home, would
constitute a misdemeanor offense.

The legislation would also replace what had been a proposed regulatory
framework for intoxicating hemp that the House had approved with a broad
prohibition on sales outside marijuana dispensaries following a recent
federal move to recriminalize such products.

Under the law, hemp items with more than 0.4 mg of total THC per container,
or those containing synthetic cannabinoids, could no longer be sold outside
of a licensed marijuana dispensary setting. That would align with a
recently enacted federal hemp law included in an appropriations package
signed by President Donald Trump.

The federal law imposing a ban on most consumable hemp products has a
one-year implementation window, however, and it appears the Ohio
legislation would take effect sooner. As passed by the legislature, a
temporary regulatory program for hemp beverages would have stayed in place
in Ohio until December 31, 2026, but that provision was vetoed by the
governor.

The law also includes language stipulating that, if the federal government
moves to legalize hemp with higher THC content, it’s the intent of the Ohio
legislature to review that policy change and consider potential state-level
reforms to regulate such products.

The bill signing came months after DeWine issued emergency rules
prohibiting the sale of intoxicating hemp products for 90 days, with
instructions to the legislature to consider permanent regulations. A county
judge has enjoined the state from enforcing that policy in response to a
legal challenge.


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Meanwhile, in September, the Ohio Department of Cannabis Control (DCC)
filed proposed rules to build upon the state’s marijuana legalization law, laying
out plans to update regulations on labeling and packaging requirements.

Ohio retailers sold more than $1 billion worth of legal marijuana products
in 2025, according to data from the state Department of Commerce (DOC).

In March, a survey of 38 municipalities by the Ohio State University’s
(OSU) Moritz College of Law found that local leaders were “unequivocally
opposed” to earlier proposals that would have stripped the planned funding.

Meanwhile in Ohio, adults as of June are able to buy more than double the
amount of marijuana than they were under previous limits, with state
officials determining that the market can sustainably supply both medical
cannabis patients and adult consumers.

The governor in March separately announced his desire to reallocate
marijuana tax revenue to support police training, local jails and
behavioral health services. He said funding police training was a top
priority, even if that wasn’t included in what voters passed in 2023.

The post Ohio Cannabis Activists Resubmit Referendum Petition After
Attorney General Rejects Initial ‘Misleading’ Version appeared first on Marijuana
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