Ohio Judge Blocks Governor’s Hemp Product Ban From Taking Effect

“Today’s decision allows thousands of hardworking Ohio entrepreneurs to
continue supporting their families and serving consumers who rely on access
to safe, legal, and properly regulated hemp products.”

*By Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal*

Ohio stores can temporarily resume to selling intoxicating hemp
products—for now.

Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Carl Aveni granted a 14-day
temporary restraining order on Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) executive order
banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products on October 14.

DeWine announced last week a 90-day executive order that bans the sale of
intoxicating hemp products that also started on October 14. The next
hearing in this case is scheduled for October 28.

Intoxicating hemp products are items that contain THC that are sold
anywhere other than licensed marijuana dispensaries including gas stations,
smoke shops and CBD stores, among others.

Marijuana is not considered an intoxicating hemp product and is legal in
Ohio. This ban does not affect the marijuana law passed by voters in 2023.

“While we continue to fight in court, today’s developments underscore our
continued desire to work with the General Assembly to pass permanent
legislation regarding intoxicating hemp,” DeWine said in a statement.

Titan Logistic Group, Fumee Smoke and Vape and Invicta Partners—all members
of the Ohio Healthy Alternatives Association—filed a lawsuit last week
against the ban, arguing DeWine is breaking federal and state law by
restricting access to these products.

“Today’s decision allows thousands of hardworking Ohio entrepreneurs to
continue supporting their families and serving consumers who rely on access
to safe, legal, and properly regulated hemp products,” Ohio Healthy
Alternatives Association said in a statement.

The 2018 Farm Bill says hemp can be grown legally if it contains less than
0.3 percent THC.

“The Executive Order is overly broad in that it applies to all hemp and
hemp products including those that are legal under the 2018 Farm Bill and
Ohio’s current laws,” the lawsuit says.

“It is also vague because there is no definition of ‘intoxicating hemp’ in
the Ohio Revised Code or Ohio Administrative Code.”

DeWine—who has been calling on lawmakers to regulate or ban delta-8 THC
products since January 2024—spent much of last week’s press conference
where he announced the ban talking about the need to protect children from
these products.

Ohio voters have opined on where they want cannabis sold by their passage
of Issue 2, which passed with the support of 57% of Ohio voters.

Issue 2 limited the sale of cannabis to dispensaries. The sale of cannabis
as intoxicating hemp in these other venues was never…

— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) October 14, 2025

It was reported in January 2024 that there had been at least 257 reports of
delta-8 poisoning in Ohio in recent years—including 102 in 2023 and 40 that
involved children under six-years-old, according to the Ohio Poison Control
Center.

The plaintiffs, however, disagree.

“Governor DeWine lacks a basis to use an executive order to regulate all
hemp products because there is no evidence hemp products pose an imminent
threat to public health,” the lawsuit reads.

Ohio has more than 4,000 small businesses and family-owned businesses that
sell hemp products, according to the lawsuit.

The Ohio Capital Journal talked to people in the hemp industry who were
worried what DeWine’s ban would mean for their businesses and customers.

Hemp products account for all of Titan’s sales and they will be forced to
close if the ban goes into effect, according to the court documents.

Approximately 25 percent of Fumee’s sales are hemp products and they expect
to fire half of their staff if the ban takes place, according to the court
documents.

“Governor DeWine’s order was not only unlawful—it was an abuse of executive
authority that threatened to devastate an entire sector overnight,” Dakota
Sawyer of American Republic Policy said in a statement. “Today’s decision
restores sanity and due process.”

Jim Higdon, co-founder of Cornbread Hemp in Kentucky, which sells its
products in more than 300 Ohio retail stores, said the judge’s ruling was a
win for Ohio.

“By granting the TRO, the court recognized that Governor DeWine’s reckless
executive order should not take effect without proper legislative debate
and due process,” Higdon said in a statement.

“This decision protects adult Ohioans’ access to federally legal hemp
products and sends a clear message to the legislature that it must act.”

There are a handful of bills in the Ohio legislature that would regulate
intoxicating hemp products in various ways.

At least 32 states have some regulations on intoxicating hemp products.

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

*Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel and Philip Steffan.*

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