A bill proposed in Ohio seeks to change the state’s voter-approved adult-use cannabis law by reducing the amount of cannabis that can be grown at home, lowering THC levels, increasing the tax, and redirecting tax revenues derived from the industry, Ohio Capital Journal reports. State Sen. Steve Huffman (R), the bill’s primary sponsor, said during testimony last week that the measure “is about government efficiency, consumer and child safety, and maintaining access to voter-approved adult-use marijuana.”
The bill would lower THC levels in concentrates available in the adult-use market from a maximum of 90% to 70%, reduce the number of plants allowed to be cultivated in homes from 12 to six, raise the tax on adult-use products from 10% to 15%, cap the number of active dispensaries at 350, require cannabis to be transported only in the trunk of a vehicle, merge the state’s medical and adult-use cannabis programs under the Division of Cannabis Control, and send all of the revenues generated from adult-use sales to the state’s general fund.
The proposal would also allow cannabis use only in private residences.
Huffman said the bill corrects “some of the societal needs” associated with adult-use cannabis legalization.
“I don’t want to sit at the ball game and the guy next to my nine-year-old kid is smoking marijuana. I think that’s wrong. That’s what the voters voted for. … I wouldn’t say we’re gutting everything. We’re trying to improve it.” — Huffman via the Capital Journal
During Huffman’s testimony, state Sen. Bill DeMora (D) said the proposal basically tells voters “’screw you.’”
“’You don’t know what you’re talking about,”’ DeMora said. “’You passed it with an overwhelming majority of the state, but we know better.’”
A similar bill was introduced during Ohio’s previous General Assembly and was passed by the Senate but died in the House. Huffman’s version is currently in the Senate General Government Committee.
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