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Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio Republican lawmakers plan to pass marijuana restrictions by end of June
The Ohio Statehouse. (Photo by David DeWitt, Ohio Capital Journal.) Ohio Republicans plan to pass recreational marijuana reform by the end of June. Both the House and Senate are working together to create restrictions, which have drawn criticism from legalized marijuana supporters around the state. Under the law passed by Ohio voters in November 2023, if you are 21 years old or older, you can smoke, vape, and ingest marijuana. Individually, you can grow six plants, but you can grow up to 12 plants per household if you live with others. Right now, Ohio House and Senate leaders are negotiating for multi-chamber-approved cannabis reform. 'Generally, trying to get to a place that more people support,' House Finance Chair Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, said. The lawmakers are trying to combine two bills: Senate Bill 56 and House Bill 160. Both make dozens of changes to cannabis access, but most notably, S.B. 56 limits THC content and reduces home growing to six plants, while H.B. 160 limits THC and keeps home growing the same. Asked if Statehouse Republicans had come to an agreement yet, Stewart said 'stay tuned.' He added that he did like the House's substitute bill — one that addressed the 'desire in the caucus to have low-dose drinks.' 'I think that there are going to be some adjustments on the criminalization side that should hopefully address some of those concerns,' Stewart said. That answer depends on who you ask. Ohio Senate Republican leaders have continued to say that the voters knew they wanted legal weed — but the lawmakers claim that voters didn't know everything they were voting on. Stewart and House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, have echoed those claims. 'It's obviously a complex issue growing out of the '23 initiative and with the growth of the THC, hemp, and artificially created hemp products,' he said. Huffman said he wanted to deal with delta 8, low-level THC products sold in convenience stores with no age limits first, as his 'primary goal is regulating the sale of all these products, including getting them out of the stores where they're accessible to minors.' Ohio Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans, disagree with Huffman, saying it's about control. 'We want to make sure that the will of voters is protected,' House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said. 'We want to make sure that the use of that revenue is upheld.' Contact them. To find your district's legislators, click here. You will see a page where you can put in your address. From there, two people should pop up on the screen. If you click the lawmaker's icon, you will be directed to their page. From there, you will see a banner with different options. Click the one that says 'Contact.' Depending on your browser, you may need to click a 'More' option before 'Contact.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fact check: Ohio GOP claims legalizing marijuana increases crime. It doesn't, legal expert says.
Now-Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, left, and Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, right. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.) Ohio Republican lawmakers continue to draft legislation restricting access to recreational marijuana, angering citizens across the political spectrum. But when one of the most powerful leaders is urging for restrictions, claiming that marijuana increases crime, viewers and readers asked us to look into it. We have a running series of answering questions and concerns about weed. This story focuses mainly on the lawmakers, claims they are making, and why they are proposing changes to current policy. Earlier installments have focused on learning the basics of the law, and then how to buy it, before it was open legal sales started in August 2024. Then, we answered questions on where to partake and then employment concerns. Our most recent story dealt with the latest restrictive proposal passed by the Ohio Senate. Many of the questions and comments for this piece stemmed from Thursday's story, which was about the Ohio House's proposal. First, let's break down the current law. If you are 21 years old or older, you can smoke, vape, and ingest marijuana. Individually, you can grow six plants, but you can grow up to 12 plants per household if you live with others. You can have up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in all forms except for concentrates, which you can only have up to 15 grams. There are two bills being proposed by legislators — Senate Bill 56 and House Bill 160. Both make dozens of changes to cannabis access, but most notably, S.B. 56 limits THC content and reduces home growing to six plants while H.B. 160 limits THC and keeps home growing the same. For deep dives into each proposal, click here for Senate version and here for House version. Although House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, was addressing a question about local governments having their fair share of the tax revenue from marijuana, he made some statements about crime that caught our interest. 'Those local governments, by and large, are going to use the revenue to deal with the problems that are caused by more marijuana being available in the community — we're going to have more crime; we're going to have more addiction problems,' Huffman said. 'What are you basing that off of?' we asked the speaker. 'Really?' he responded incredulously. When this reporter nodded, he laughed and said he would give me what he thought was an equivalent. This was alcohol. 'The more alcohol is available, the more people drink and the more bad behavior results… That's what happens with marijuana and other substances that cause people to think poorly when they take it,' he said. He also said that it is linked to an increase in suicides if teens get access to it. 'I think that it's pretty clear that the science shows real problems, and we'll have to deal with it,' he added. But Case Western Reserve University Law professor Jonathan H. Adler, who also wrote 'Marijuana Federalism: Uncle Sam and Mary Jane,' a book on the intersection of marijuana legalization, law and crime, corrected Huffman. 'When you look at crime statistics in jurisdictions that have taken this step, you don't see dramatic effects on crime and certainly don't see evidence of significant negative effects on crime, or increases in crime, that some people fear,' Adler said. 'There's evidence that suggests some sorts of crime may, in fact, decline.' Legalization of adult-use cannabis 'appears to reduce highway fatalities, appears to reduce some types of violent crime,' he continued. Even OVI incidents and enforcements in Ohio are down from 2024, before legal sales went into effect. As of March 2, there have been hundreds fewer in 2025 than this time last year, according to data from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Dozens of studies done over decades have had differing results, which is why Adler warns about using absolutes as Huffman did. 'People on various sides of the debate about marijuana legalization cherry-pick the studies that support their priors,' the professor continued. 'But when you look at the broader reviews of the literature as a whole, they don't see these big effects.' One must be careful not to confuse correlation and causation, he continued. There are so many variables as to why crime may increase one year and not the next. Although he dismissed Huffman's claims about crime and addiction, he acknowledged the speaker's statement that marijuana has been linked to youth suicide. 'The evidence that you see overall increases in suicide is still very weak,' he said. There is a stigma surrounding marijuana, and for a reason, he added. Federally, it's still illegal — so it's a crime. If someone is already breaking the law to steal, they probably wouldn't have an issue with breaking the law to smoke weed. But those crimes still aren't comparable. 'A lot of the negative effects that were predicted don't appear to be materializing,' he said. 'That doesn't mean there aren't negative effects, right?' This isn't to say that cannabis is a wonder drug, he laughed. 'Positive predictions not panning out — a lot of states thought the economic benefits in terms of tax revenue would be far greater than they've turned out to be,' he said. He said he thinks marijuana should be regulated like alcohol at the federal level, for sure, but that Huffman can't treat them the same when it comes to what they do to the body. 'There are people who will have a lot of alcohol and want to go out and do crazy things,' he said. 'And a lot of people that will want to use marijuana just sit on their couch and watch Netflix and eat Doritos or something.' The 'empirical evidence does seem to confirm a bit of that stereotype,' he laughed. Although he was speaking as a nonpartisan professor, Adler, who is a well-known conservative commentator, gave a final warning to the GOP leaders. 'There is always a risk that increasing regulation or restricting what's available to consumers will push some people into the illicit market,' he said. Senate GOP leaders have continued to say that the voters knew they wanted legal weed — but didn't know everything they were voting on. When it came to the other chamber and their more flexible version, we asked House Finance Chair Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, who is sponsoring H.B. 160, the same question. 'What do you say to the voters who say this isn't what they chose and they spoke, they don't want it reduced to 70%, they don't want the taxes going to the general revenue fund,' we asked him. 'I think that there is a core of what voters made clear that they wanted, that showed up in virtually all debate and public testimony on this, which is: 'We want to legalize marijuana, we want it to be taxed at 10%, we want to be able to grow it at home,'' the lawmaker responded. 'I think that beyond that, I think there's some fine print that was less important to folks in making that determination [of] how they voted.' He continued, adding that the voters put this forward as an initiated statute. 'Any idea that we're going to pass a law, and it's just the law for the end of time, and it's never subject to the democratic process and revision is not realistic, right?' he said. 'Putting something into initiated statute leaves it within the realm of the democratic process. So I think we are making very, very few changes here, and I think the folks who have contacted my office and said, 'Hey, we don't want certain restrictions on Issue 2' — nothing in our bill here contradicts that.' 'Are you insinuating that voters didn't read the entirety of Issue 2 and didn't know what they were voting on?' we asked. 'I have no idea what every single voter did or didn't do,' he replied. 'I said, I think when this is marketed as 'regulate marijuana like alcohol,' — we're doing that here. You have a 10% tax rate. It's legal. You can do it at home. We're not touching any of the core parts of Issue 2.' To find your district's legislators, click here. You will see a page where you can put in your address. From there, two people should pop up on the screen. If you click the icon of the lawmaker, you will be transported to their page. From there, you will see a banner with different options. Click the one that says 'Contact.' Depending on your browser, you may need to click a 'More' option before 'Contact.' Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio House's cannabis overhaul would regulate hemp; preserve home-grow limits
Mar. 6—Compared to the Ohio Senate's far-reaching plan to regulate adult-use marijuana, the Ohio House proposes far more limited changes to Ohio's recreational market for the first time since it was established by voters in November 2023 under Issue 2. The introduction of House Bill 160, introduced on behalf of House GOP leadership, indicates that the Ohio House will take its time in passing legislation the Ohio Senate has now repeatedly been able to approve with haste over the past two years. "I think that there is an appetite for the House to express its opinion on it," bill sponsor Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, told reporters at a Thursday press conference. "Our goal is to allow members to legislate on this issue while acknowledging that we have had the advantage of seeing two years' worth of debate on this." His bill has a few high-level differences from a measure the Senate approved in February as Senate Bill 56. — Where the Senate looked to cap home-grow plants at six per household; H.B. 160 would maintain Issue 2's 12-plant cap. — Where the Senate looked to prohibit consumption to "only in a private residence;" H.B. 160 would allow consumption on any residential parcel but not in public spaces. — Where the Senate looked to cap edibles at 100mg per package; H.B. 160 contains no such language. — Where the Senate looked to prohibit all sharing of any kind; H.B. 160 would allow the sharing of home grown marijuana within the household to Ohioans of legal age. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two chambers comes in H.B. 160's proposal to move all intoxicating hemp products — marketed to minors and readily available at gas stations and convenience stores — to dispensaries. "If it gets you high, it goes through a dispensary — period," Stewart said. The Senate's proposal does not mention intoxicating hemp at all. But there are significant changes H.B. 160 proposes compared to Issue 2, which Ohio voters passed with 57% approval. Like Senate Bill 56, H.B. 160 looks to cap the potency of THC extracts at 70%, with the intention to give the Ohio Division of Cannabis control the rule-making authority to increase the cap. And, while H.B. 160 would maintain the state's 10% excise tax on recreational sales, it changes where the state puts those funds. Issue 2 set it up to give communities with dispensaries tax kickbacks and direct a portion of the revenues into a social equity fund. H.B. 160 would sunset similar local kickbacks after five years, eliminate the social equity fund, and divert the rest of the revenue to the state's general fund. In comparison, S.B. 56 initially looked to raise the tax to 15% and direct all revenues to the state's general fund, but all tax-related language was taken out before it was approved. The governor, meanwhile, has moved to double the tax to 20% and reroute the revenues. H.B. 160 mirrors S.B. 56 in several ways, including mutual aims to create an expungement protocol for Ohioans who have low-level marijuana possession offenses. Both the House and Senate proposals would require a $50 filing fee from the individual. Both bills also look to block the cannabis industry from marketing to minors; grant employers the explicit authority to enforce a drug-free workplace; and create specific legal penalties for driving under the influence. Adrienne Robbins, deputy executive director of the Ohio Cannabis Coalition, told reporters Thursday that the advocacy organization is still combing through H.B. 160's provisions and taking the pulse of its industry members. "However, we do think this is a really positive step forward," Robbins said. "When you look at the Senate bill and the different iterations of it that came out, I think this is another step forward and it does make us feel like lawmakers are listening to us, but then maybe more importantly, listening to consumers' concerns as well." Robbins characterized the bill as a reasonable guardrail that would help Ohio maintain its competitiveness with other states' recreational markets and the illegal market. ------ For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening. Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cannabis industry stakeholders say Ohio's marijuana bill defies voters' will
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — As Ohio legislators look to crack down on voter-approved recreational marijuana laws, cannabis industry leaders are asking them to reconsider. Senate Bill 56 would make dozens of changes to Ohio's recreational marijuana program, a citizen-led statute that passed in November 2023 with 57% of voters in favor. The bill passed in the Ohio Senate and now heads to the House as cannabis industry stakeholders speak out against the legislation. See previous coverage of the bill in the video player above. S.B. 56 is a 147-page bill that would repeal most of Ohio's current Cannabis Control Law, replacing it with new and more restrictive legislation. It is a sweeping bill with many aspects that would strengthen regulations against home growing, adult use, dispensary licensing, cannabis farmers, employment, taxation and product options. Vivek Ramaswamy's nonprofit is barely known but it makes big claims In the Senate committee, the legislation saw four testimonies in favor of S.B. 56 and 40 testimonies against it. The ACLU of Ohio was one of the 40, and said many Ohioans likely would have wanted to provide testimony opposing S.B. 56 but were unable to with the speed it moved through the Senate. Karen O'Keefe also shared opponent's testimony. O'Keefe is an attorney and director of state policies for the largest cannabis policy reform organization in the U.S., a nonprofit called Marijuana Policy Project. O'Keefe condemned the bill's restrictions, saying it would 'recriminalize' many aspects of cannabis use that voters approved. O'Keefe said many of the regulations unfairly limit adult use. She called portions of S.B. 56 that would enforce mandatory jail time for anyone who smokes or vapes cannabis on a boat 'outrageous.' O'Keefe also pointed to restrictions in the bill barring sharing cannabis among a household, including if the homeowners grew the plant themselves. 'Spouses would have to have 'his and her' cannabis,' she said. 'Imagine being prohibited from sharing a bottle of wine with friends and family. This prohibition is nonsensical.' Ohio transportation budget includes air travel, passenger rail Cannabis Safety First founder Tim Johnson said the bill's concerns about public safety are redundant at best. Johnson, a veteran and retired law enforcement officer, said the state should support cannabis as a sustainable new industry rather than adding new criminal penalties for cannabis use. If passed, Ohioans would only be permitted to grow six plants, halving the current 12-plant policy, which many opponents disagreed with. Larger marijuana cultivators also spoke out against the bill's restrictions toward growing cannabis. 'As a farmer, I'm asking you to remove the clause that prohibits hemp farmers from growing high THC cannabis outside,' Joey Ellwood with Appalachian Girls Cannabis Company said. 'I'm one of seven hemp farmers left in Ohio and our family has endured many challenges with this market.' Chad Thompson, founder and organizer of the outdoor cannabis festival Stargazer Fest, said he felt the cultivating changes were largely lawmakers overregulating. Ohio Intel plant construction delayed into next decade 'If you can grow six, why can't you grow 12? I mean, this is just an infringement on personal freedoms and rights that the Ohio citizens voted for,' Thompson said. The bill would also cap the number of total active dispensaries at 350. Currently, Ohio has issued 128 certificates of operation. Since recreational dispensaries first opened in the state last August, business has boomed for cannabis sales. Ohio currently averages between 200,000 and 300,000 individual cannabis sales each week, and non-medical sales have brought in more than $333 million in just seven months. Nicole Stark, CEO of Bloom dispensary, said they are carefully reviewing S.B. 56 and will continue to ensure safe and effective access for patients and customers. 'Ohio voters made their voices heard in the recent election, and we hope any legislative changes will continue to reflect the will of the people while supporting a responsible and well-regulated cannabis program,' Stark said. S.B. 56 passed the Senate on Feb. 26, and is expected to be referred to the House this week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio Senate votes to limit home grow, overhaul voter-approved recreational cannabis laws
Feb. 26—A bill approved 23-9 by the Ohio Senate Wednesday would significantly overhaul a citizen-initiated statute that 57% of voters approved in 2023 to legalize recreational cannabis in Ohio. Senate Bill 56, passed along party lines, now heads to the Ohio House for further consideration. If passed by the legislature and signed into law, the bill would enact the first legislative changes to Ohio's recreational cannabis framework since it was passed via November 2023's Issue 2. Some of the most notable changes the Senate signed off on include: — Reducing the maximum THC content in cannabis extracts from 90% to 70%; — Limiting the THC content for edibles to 10 milligrams per serving and 100 milligrams per package; — Reducing the maximum number of home grown marijuana plants in a single residence from 12 to six; — Prohibiting any non-sanctioned transfer of cannabis between two people regardless of age; — Requiring recreational marijuana to be stored in its original packaging; — Prohibiting the possession of marijuana purchased out-of-state; — Eliminating Issue 2's Cannabis Social Equity and Jobs Program, which would have provided financial assistance and marijuana license application support to individuals adversely impacted by the enforcement of marijuana-related laws. — Allowing for the expungement of marijuana-related convictions that were made legal under Issue 2. A full list of the Senate's proposal can be found in a S.B. 56 analysis compiled by the legislature's nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission. S.B. 56 is the work of local Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, who was also behind the legislation that legalized medicinal marijuana in Ohio in 2016. Huffman, a physician, told this news outlet that his intent was for S.B. 56 to protect children and the public from recreational marijuana. The bill has a variety of provisions to that end, including outlawing public consumption and prohibiting marijuana advertisements within 500 feet of a school, church, public library, public park or playground, or arcades. S.B. 56 was approved by the Senate General Government Committee along party lines hours before Senate session. Democrats on the committee, including Sen. Willis Blackshear, Jr., D-Dayton, begrudged the bill's changes. "We attempted to amend the bill to reinstate many of the provisions that were included in Issue 2, but those amendments were tabled by the majority in committee," said Blackshear in a Wednesday news release. "It is unfortunate that this committee would pass a bill so out of line with what the voters intended when they approved adult-use marijuana by a margin of over 14 points in 2023." Note: This is a developing story and may be updated as more information becomes available. ------ For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening. Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
