Ohio Governor And GOP Senator Criticize Activists Pushing Referendum To Reverse Marijuana And Hemp Restrictions

*“The [2023] ballot initiative had absolutely zero effect on anything in
the hemp industry. But it sounds like that’s the vast majority of what
people want to overturn.”*

*By Nick Evans, Ohio Capital Journal*

Ohioans for Cannabis Choice is mounting a referendum effort against a new
law cracking down on intoxicating hemp and making several changes to Ohio’s
voter-passed recreational marijuana law. If its signature gathering effort
proves successful, Ohio voters will be asked whether to reject provisions
of Ohio Senate Bill 56 next November. They’ll need to collect almost
250,000 signatures to put that question on the ballot.

Ohio voters approved adult-use marijuana at the ballot box in November
2023. State lawmakers have been wrestling with changes to that law ever
since.

Wesley Bryant, the owner of 420 Craft Beverages in Cleveland and one of the
petitioners leading the referendum campaign, called lawmakers’ recent
changes “a slap in the face to voters who overwhelmingly voted to legalize
cannabis in 2023.”

*What’s in the bill*

Among S.B. 56’s changes, lawmakers capped marijuana potency, prohibited
smoking in most public places, and imposed penalties on smoking in
vehicles—as a driver or a passenger. Bringing legally purchased marijuana
into Ohio from another stat would become illegal and Ohioans would face
criminal penalties if they exceeded limits on homegrown cannabis. The new
law also eliminates anti-discrimination provisions related to housing,
employment, and organ donation.

But perhaps the biggest change for Ohio’s marijuana industry is language
banning intoxicating hemp outside of a licensed cannabis dispensary. Those
products start from cannabis plants with very little naturally occurring
THC and then alter other compounds in a laboratory setting to create more
of the chemical that makes users feel high. The prohibition brings Ohio in
line with recent changes to federal law.

Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has been complaining for almost two years about the
proliferation of intoxicating hemp products like gummies made to look like
popular candy brands or other snacks. By signing S.B. 56 those products
become illegal in March.

Notably, state lawmakers had thrown a lifeline to the state’s booming THC
beverage industry. The bill that arrived on DeWine’s desk would’ve allowed
beverages with up to 5 milligrams of THC to be produced and sold in Ohio
until the end of 2026, when federal law kicks in and they become illegal.
Instead, DeWine issued a line-item veto effectively prohibiting them in
March along with other intoxicating hemp products.

*The referendum*

Ohioans for Cannabis Choice quickly announced plans for the referendum and
filed its initial batch of signatures a little more than a week after
DeWine signed the legislation.

“In filing our petitions today,” Bryant said in a statement, “We are taking
a stand for Ohioans against politicians in Columbus and saying no to the
government overreach of S.B. 56.”

With petitions delivered, state officials are on the clock. The Secretary
of State has 10 business days to verify the signatures, and the Attorney
General has the same amount of time to certify the petition summary is fair
and truthful.

If the petition clears those bars, organizers can begin canvassing to
collect signatures. They’ll need 6 percent of the total number of votes
cast in the most recent gubernatorial election (248,092). The group will
also need 3 percent of an individual county’s gubernatorial turnout in 44
of Ohio’s 88 counties.

Organizers will have 90 days from the date the governor filed the law with
the secretary to collect the require signatures.

Another petitioner, Tuscarawas County hemp farmer Joseph Ellwood, said
ordinary Ohioans weren’t asking for changes lawmakers made.

“Ohioans oppose re-criminalizing cannabis,” he said. “For example, making
it a crime to grow more than six plants, a crime to have unauthorized
paraphernalia, and a crime to buy marijuana in Michigan and bring it home.”

“And this is just the start,” Ellwood added. “Politicians in Columbus won’t
stop until marijuana and hemp are completely illegal in Ohio again.”

Andrew Greene, the group’s third petitioner and an employee at a Dayton
distribution center, said numerous jobs are at stake if S.B. 56 takes
effect.

“There are thousands of workers like me who are going to lose their jobs
because S.B. 56 will close more than 6,000 small businesses across Ohio,”
Greene said.

“It’s sad because the cannabis industry, both hemp and marijuana, support
legislation that will protect consumers and strengthen Ohio farmers and
small businesses,” he went on, “But these out-of-touch politicians are hell
bent on re-criminalizing marijuana and hemp products.”

*Reactions*

The measure’s sponsor, state Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, expressed
some sympathy for those frustrated with the bill, but portrayed several
provisions as clarifications rather than wholesale changes. He pointed to
the number of plants allowed for home growers as an example.

“We clarified the number of plants—six for one person, six for the
other—that didn’t change,” he said of the 12-plant household limit. “But
the way the ballot initiative was, you weren’t allowed to be prosecuted
till 23 [plants] which really didn’t make sense, and 12 seemed to be what
was intended, and we went with that.”

Lawmakers improved the expungement process, he added, and did work behind
the scenes to hopefully streamline licensing and regulation for business
owners.

And Huffman questioned the motives of those behind the referendum. Although
Ohio voters approved adult-use marijuana, he said, much of the pushback
against his bill seems to be coming from the hemp industry.

“The [2023] ballot initiative had absolutely zero effect on anything in the
hemp industry,” Huffman said. “But it sounds like that’s the vast majority
of what people want to overturn.”

“There’s some contradiction there,” he added.

DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney made a similar point. While he stressed it’s
the right of any Ohio citizen to pursue a referendum, the organizers’ claim
that S.B. 56 goes against the will of the voters is “inconsistent.”

The 2023 ballot measure could’ve allowed marijuana sales anywhere, Tierney
said, but it didn’t. And so seeking a referendum to protect the sale of THC
infused beverages in bars or convenience stores doesn’t protect the will of
the voters.

*This story was first published by Ohio Capital Journal.*

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Referendum To Reverse Marijuana And Hemp Restrictions appeared first on Marijuana
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