Ohio Bill to Outlaw Sale of Intoxicating Hemp Products Unlikely to Pass Before End of Session

An Ohio bill to restrict the sale of intoxicating hemp products and make changes to the state’s adult-use cannabis law is unlikely to reach the desk of Gov. Mike DeWine (R) before the state’s legislative session ends this week, The Blade reports. A bill in the Senate – which has the votes to pass the chamber – would ban products like Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC outright, while members of the House have pitched raising the age to purchase the products. 

DeWine has said he would back a proposal to limit their sale to licensed cannabis retailers in the state, which have a minimum age of 21, to bridge the gap between the Senate and House proposals. Senate President Matt Huffman (R) told The Blade that he doesn’t “think the House is interested in doing that.” 

“I don’t think that should be a surprise to anybody because they weren’t interested in what the governor and the Senate sent over in December a year ago on trying to clear up some of the problems with the marijuana initiative.” — Huffman to The Blade 

In addition to setting age restrictions on hemp-derived THC products, the measure would have redirected some of the tax revenue from adult-use cannabis sales, reduced the maximum potency of THC concentrates, and limited the number of plants that could be cultivated in households. 

DeWine told The Blade he would support an outright ban on the sale of intoxicating hemp products in the state, which he called “an easy fix” to the access problem to the products by individuals under 21.