Ohio House updates Ohio’s Marijuana Laws

State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) today announced that legislation updating Ohio’s marijuana laws and addressing the issue of intoxicating hemp has been approved through the Ohio House of Representatives.

Senate Bill 56 preserves the legal, adult-use marijuana provisions approved by voters in Issue 2 in 2023, while also adding needed protections for Ohio’s children. The bill was finalized through a conference committee made up of members from the House and Senate.

“For many years now, the Ohio General Assembly has debated what our public policy should be towards marijuana, intoxicating hemp products, and the emergence of THC-infused beverages,” said Rep. Stewart, member of the conference committee. “Today we get to strengthen Ohio’s economy, protect Ohio’s children, support our local governments, and respect the individual liberties of our fellow citizens.”
“I was pleased to see a vast majority of our House policy on THC beverages retained through the conference report,” said State Representative Tex Fischer (R-Boardman), member of the conference committee. “There will be more work to be done on this issue in the near future and I’m looking forward to working on a long-term solution to these products in the near future.”

Clarifying Ohio’s Marijuana Law

Senate Bill 56 includes multiple provisions that clarify the state’s adult-use marijuana law, including:

Permitting a person who was convicted of – or pled guilty to – a marijuana possession offense involving amounts now legal to possess under the law to have their conviction or guilty plea expunged.
Combining the marijuana adult use and medicinal use provisions in the same section of the Ohio Revised Code.
Maintaining the current tax rate of 10% on adult use of marijuana.
Clarifying the adult personal use of marijuana on residential parcels, rather than just inside a residence.
Eliminating the cannabis social equity and jobs fund and program.
Maintaining home-grown allowances in the current law, but prohibiting the cultivation of home-grown marijuana in halfway homes, recovery houses, and childcare centers.
Providing the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) necessary authority to regulate marijuana from cultivation to sale without allowing undue burdens on these Ohio businesses.

Host Community Revenue
The bill allocates 36% of revenue from the marijuana excise tax to the Host Community Cannabis Fund, in perpetuity, to be distributed to local communities that are home to dispensaries.

Promoting Public Safety

Senate Bill 56 includes multiple provisions that will protect children and promote public safety, including:

Prohibiting public smoking and intoxication.
Prohibiting marijuana products from using packaging or advertising that is attractive to children, or which mimics other legal products that are consumed by children.
Requiring ads to be at least 500 feet from schools and churches.
Expressly clarifying marijuana OVI prohibitions, including passengers smoking in the vehicle, without enhancing criminal penalties.
Reducing THC potency levels for marijuana to 70% for extracts as other legalization states have done, while maintaining the 35% threshold for plant material.
Continuing to permit an employer to prohibit use of marijuana and make appropriate employment actions based on an employee’s use, possession, or distribution of marijuana.

Intoxicating Hemp & THC Beverages
Senate Bill 56 adheres to new federal law changes made recently to prohibit intoxicating products from being available outside of a licensed marijuana dispensary.

Senate Bill 56 also adheres to recent federal law changes by establishing a 13-month period wherein drinkable cannabinoid products (DCPs) may be manufactured, distributed, and sold within the state of Ohio, until December 31^st, 2026. During this period, the bill authorizes the sale of DCPs at grocers, retailers, bars, and restaurants licensed under Ohio’s liquor permitting laws.