Marijuana backers criticize Ohio bills attempting to change state law
Stock photo from Getty Images.
Marijuana advocates called bills to change Ohio's weed laws 'a slap in the face' to voters.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws hosted a webinar last week about two bills that are trying to change Ohio's marijuana laws.
'Whether one believes that cannabis ought to be legal or not is almost a secondary issue,' said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano. 'The primary issue ought to be that elections have consequences, and the results of elections should matter.'
Ohioans voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023 by passing a citizen-initiated law, meaning Ohio lawmakers can change the law. Marijuana sales started in August 2024 and the state's total recreational marijuana sales were $376,482,070 as of Saturday, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control.
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'Ohio looks like it has been rolling along very smoothly, and implementation has been going well,' said NORML Political Director Morgan Fox. 'There have been no major complaints from Ohioans, and it's premature for the legislature to try to interfere with it.'
There are bills in both chambers trying to rewrite Ohio's marijuana laws — Senate Bill 56 and House Bill 160.
'It's not as if this pushback is coming because there have been negative or adverse consequences of Issue Two being implemented,' Armentano said. 'The law is working just fine, and Ohioans are happy with it. Lawmakers are trying to meddle with it and act as if there are issues with the law, when in fact, we're seeing the laws playing out the way voters intended.'
These bills would be dangerous for cannabis users in Ohio, said Cat Packer, director of drug markets and legal regulation at Drug Policy Alliance.
'There are so many ways that if you are a cannabis consumer in Ohio, with either of these bills passed, you should consider that the law will consider you a criminal,' she said.
S.B. 56 would cut the number of Ohio's home grow plants in half from 12 plants down to six, reduce the THC levels in adult-use marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90% down to a maximum of 70%, and require marijuana can only be used in a private residence.
THC potency caps are a solution in search of a problem, Armentano said.
'Voters, by and large, don't like potency caps for cannabis,' he said. 'If we simply remove these products from the market, we're not going to get rid of the demand, but what we're going to do is drive the production of these products to the unregulated market.'
S.B. 56 does allow someone to apply to the sentencing court to have their record expunged, but they would have to pay a $50 filing fee. The bill would require marijuana to only be transported in the trunk of a car when traveling and would limit the number of active dispensaries to 350.
The Ohio Senate passed S.B. 56 last month, which would ban Ohioans from using marijuana that is not either from a licensed Ohio dispensary or cultivated at a consumer's home — meaning it would be illegal for Ohioans to drive up to Michigan to buy marijuana and bring it back over state lines. The bill has yet to have a hearing in the House.
'If you were to pass a joint or share your home grown cannabis, or share your cannabis with your spouse or your roommate, you would be a criminal again,' said Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies at Marijuana Policy Project.
House Bill 160 would keep home grow and tax levels the same, but reduce THC levels and redirect most of the tax revenue to the state's general fund.
The current tax revenue is divided up in several ways — 36% to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund, 36% to the host community cannabis fund, 25% to the substance abuse and addiction fund and 3% to the Division of Cannabis Control and Tax Commissioner Fund.
'My concern is we wouldn't be dedicating those monies where voters decided that the money should go,' Packer said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's budget proposal would increase the tax on marijuana from 10% to 20%. The Ohio House is currently working on the budget, which is due July 1.
Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.
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'We dug up the garden to replace the soil, and that's when we discovered a tunnel underneath, leading along the back fence,' she recalled. 'It looked like it went all the way to the church.' McKean and her husband, Henry McKean, a mathematics professor, bought the home in the early 1990s for $345,000 after spotting its photo in a Montague Street real estate office. Over the next three decades, the couple made it their mission to preserve it — eschewing modern renovations in favor of historical fidelity. 19 Listing rep Monica Luque, who calls the home 'a museum,' said they've even written a preservation clause into the sale. Vibra Inc Advertisement 19 Rasa McKean is hoping the city might step in to honor her husband Henry McKean's dying wish to protect the property for future generations. Vibra Inc 19 The home maintains six original fireplaces from when it was first built. Vibra Inc 19 Another fireplace with intricate moldings. Vibra Inc 'The other parishioners' houses around the church all participated in the Underground Railroad, but they're gone now,' McKean said. 'Ours is one of the few that remains — and we changed all the electrical systems, water pipes and heating in a way that preserved the history.' Advertisement Their preservation efforts extended to its decorations. 'They tried all these years to keep the same paint, which was a milk paste paint,' said listing representative Monica Luque of Douglas Elliman. 'They only did what was absolutely necessary in terms of heating and cooling and plumbing, but everything else is there. All the original bones are there.' Luque is now marketing the home alongside co-agent Gabriel Suarez, and said the late McKean's wish was that the city step in to preserve the house after his death. 'It would be amazing if the city or the state bought it instead and kept it,' she said. 'It is a museum.' 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Every room in the 2.5-bath home tells a story. There's a parlor with views of the leafy 55-by-25-foot backyard, which borders Greenacre Park and a library filled with built-ins that recalls a quieter century. Two additional rooms function well as offices or nurseries. It's a residential time capsule — but one grounded in some of the most pivotal movements in American history. The home's original owners, members of the Gracie and Middagh families, were part of Brooklyn's early elite. Middagh Street and the 'fruit streets' of Pineapple, Orange and Cranberry owe their names to the same lineage — legend says Lady Middagh renamed them to poke fun at the neighborhood's pretension. 19 An aerial view of the home. Vibra Inc 19 Map showing routes of the 'Underground Railroad,' used by fugitive slaves to escape into the free states of the United States or Canada, between 1830 -1865. Getty Images The house later passed to Henry L. Pratt, a deacon of Plymouth Church and ally of Rev. Beecher. A manufacturer and devout abolitionist, Pratt reportedly hosted religious leaders and Underground Railroad operatives in the home. McKean notes the uncanny coincidence that her husband, also named Henry Pratt McKean, was born in Massachusetts — just like Pratt. 'That always felt like more than a coincidence,' she said. McKean still visits the house frequently. 'Every time I leave the house, I cry,' she said. 'It really makes a big difference when you work on your home. It feels more like yourself. When you make all the decisions about the details and how you want things, it becomes part of you.' The home is awaiting a buyer who not only values old Brooklyn charm, but also recognizes the weight of its legacy. 'The city has to make a decision,' Luque said. 'Not only to purchase it, but to preserve it.'
