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.
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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.
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