By Megan Henry
Ohio Capital Journal
COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said will sign a bill into law that will ban intoxicating hemp products and make various changes to the voter-passed marijuana law from 2023, including new criminal provisions.
“No longer will it be the Wild, Wild West,” DeWine said to reporters during an event Thursday morning. “At least we’ll have some regulation of the juiced-up hemp that is there. So, to me, that’s a major, major victory.”
Ohio Senate Republicans lawmakers passed Ohio Senate Bill 56 earlier this week, sending the bill to DeWine’s desk. If DeWine signs the bill into law before the new year, it could take effect as soon as March.
This comes after DeWine has been urging Ohio lawmakers to regulate or ban delta-8 THC products since January 2024.
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.
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“It was a long time coming, but it’s a major victory,” DeWine said. “(Kids) won’t be able to have juiced-up, hemp gummies, and you won’t be able to walk into a gas station and let an 11-year-old go buy the stuff. That, to me, is the most important part of the bill.”
Children’s safety was DeWine’s biggest concern with intoxicating hemp products.
The Ohio Poison Control Center 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.
DeWine tried to take matters into his own hands earlier this year when he announced a 90-day executive order that banned the sale of intoxicating hemp products.
The executive order started on Oct.14, but a Franklin County Court of Common judge placed a temporary restraining order on DeWine’s ban through January. The next hearing in this case is scheduled for Jan. 29.
Ohio S.B. 56 complies with recent federal changes by banning intoxicating hemp products from being sold outside of a licensed marijuana dispensary.
Congress voted to ban products that contain 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container when they voted to reopen the government. Previously, the 2018 Farm Bill said hemp can be grown legally if it contains less than 0.3% THC.
There is a one-year implementation delay for the federal hemp ban, but states can create their own regulatory framework before then.
The Ohio bill also allows five milligram THC beverages to be manufactured, distributed, and sold until Dec. 31, 2026.
Ohio state Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, originally introduced the bill, which also makes changes to Ohio’s marijuana law.
It would reduce the THC levels in adult-use marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90% down to a maximum of 70%, cap THC levels in adult-use flower to 35%, and prohibit smoking in most public places.
Part of the probable cause portions were removed from the bill, but some of it still remains.
The bill prohibits possessing marijuana in anything outside of its original packaging and criminalizes bringing legal marijuana from another state back to Ohio.
Ohio S.B. 56 would also give 36% of adult-use marijuana sale revenue to municipalities and townships that have recreational marijuana dispensaries.
Ohioans passed a citizen-initiated law to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023 with 57% of the vote. Sales started in August 2024 and exceeded $702.5 million in the first year.
When asked about the marijuana portions of the bill, DeWine said he had “not gone through the whole bill.”
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