{"id":80293,"date":"2025-02-18T14:07:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T22:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/ohio-senate-panel-takes-up-bill-to-amend-voter-approved-marijuana-legalization-law-but-removes-its-tax-provisions\/"},"modified":"2025-02-19T19:48:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T03:48:31","slug":"ohio-senate-panel-takes-up-bill-to-amend-voter-approved-marijuana-legalization-law-but-removes-its-tax-provisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/ohio-senate-panel-takes-up-bill-to-amend-voter-approved-marijuana-legalization-law-but-removes-its-tax-provisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Senate Panel Takes Up Bill To Amend Voter-Approved Marijuana Legalization Law, But Removes Its Tax Provisions"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

An Ohio Senate panel on Tuesday took testimony on a bill that would significantly amend the state\u2019s voter-approved marijuana legalization law<\/a>\u2014including by halving the number of plants adults could grow, creating additional criminal offenses and eliminating certain social equity provisions.<\/p>\n

Most testimony heard by the Senate General Government Committee\u2014which is expected to vote on the proposal either this week or next\u2014was in sharp opposition to the measure, SB 56, from Sen. Stephen Huffman (R).<\/p>\n

\u201cSB 56 is not the tidying-up of a citizen-initiated statute,\u201d ACLU of Ohio said in written testimony. \u201cInstead, it is a rebuke of the people and businesses that drafted the initiative, voted for it, worked tirelessly to implement it, and generated (so far) $319 million of adult-use sales.\u201d<\/p>\n

ACLU urged lawmakers not to rush the bill, writing: \u201cYour constituents deserve the chance to fully weigh [in] on an important issue they passed so resoundingly before it is demolished by politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of 43 pieces of written testimony submitted ahead of Tuesday\u2019s hearing, only one was filed in support. A separate hearing on the measure last month, however, consisted mostly of testimony by proponents.<\/p>\n

In its initial form, the 147-page bill would have raised the state\u2019s excise tax on marijuana products from 10 percent to 15 percent and also changed how taxes are redistributed to local governments. But those tax provisions were removed under a substitute version of the measure approved by the committee at Tuesday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n

Another change in the substitute expands a buffer zone between marijuana retailers from half a mile to one full mile, which Chair Sen. Kristina Roegner (R) said was a request from both the state\u2019s Division of Cannabis Control and existing businesses.<\/p>\n

A committee vote on SB 56 was tentatively expected to happen as soon as this week, but Roegner said Tuesday that the panel would instead reconvene for further consideration of the measure sometime next week.<\/p>\n

Under other, remaining provisions of Huffman\u2019s bill, adults would be able to grow only up to six plants for personal use rather than the current 12. It would also decrease the THC content cap from 90 percent to 70 percent.<\/p>\n

Further, the proposal would limit the number of dispensaries to 350, while requiring all licensed retailers to serve both adult-use consumers and medical cannabis patients. The state Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) would also no longer be required to establish rules allowing for marijuana deliveries and online purchases.<\/p>\n

Cannabis reform advocates have blasted the measure as a rejection of the voters\u2019 will.<\/p>\n

\u201cSB 56 would create a legal minefield that re-criminalizes innocuous conduct, including sharing cannabis, smoking or vaping in one\u2019s backyard, and having edibles in a car that were ever opened,\u201d wrote Marijuana Policy Project\u2019s director of state policies, Karen O\u2019Keefe, adding that the bill also \u201clowers potency caps, eliminates the cannabis social equity and jobs program, and eliminates non-discrimination protections to ensure responsible cannabis consumers are not denied child custody, medical care including life-saving organ transplants, and benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Keefe\u2019s testimony called details of the proposal \u201cneedlessly onerous\u201d and \u201cnonsensical,\u201d noting that a passenger on a boat who vapes or smokes marijuana would face a mandatory three-day minimum jail sentence that could extend as long as six months. And she pointed out that due to its proposed restrictions on sharing, \u201cSpouses would need to have \u2018his and her[s]\u2019 cannabis! Imagine being prohibited from sharing a bottle of wine with friends and family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people spoke when they approved Issue 2,\u201d O\u2019Keefe said. \u201cSB 56 dramatically scales back the freedoms, protections, and commitment to justice that voters approved. It replaces them with an air of suspicion, trip wires and re-criminalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Keefe told Marijuana Moment in a separate email Tuesday that \u201cSB 56 is a slap in the face to Ohio voters, 57% of whom approved legalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt dramatically scales back the freedoms, protections, and commitment to equity and justice that voters approved,\u201d she said. \u201cIt replaces adult-use legalization with trip wires of re-criminalization, prohibiting everything from passing a joint to vaping on your own porch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon Dunkle IV, the executive director of Ohio NORML, told lawmakers that \u201cyou can\u2019t correct what you don\u2019t know about\u201d and wrote that \u201cas Elected Officials, you have a Duty to execute the Will of the People. You are Public Servants, not a Monarchy or Aristocracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Testimony from some critics has already resulted in changes to the bill<\/a>. Removing the bill\u2019s previous changes to tax distributions, for instance, appear to be in response to outcry from local governments, who broadly opposed Huffman\u2019s proposal as filed.<\/p>\n

Kent Scarrett, executive director of the Ohio Municipal League, which represents more than 730 cities and villages, wrote in testimony for the hearing<\/a> that while the group appreciates SB 56\u2019s efforts to expand local government authority to ban or limit the number of cannabis businesses in a jurisdiction, municipalities are concerned by its proposed changes to revenue distribution. He called on lawmakers to reject the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge the Legislature to maintain funding for communities that host marijuana facilities,\u201d he wrote, \u201cso these municipalities can prioritize where the need is greatest in their community and work to make the greatest impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ohio Mayors Alliance, which did not take a position on the measure, similarly pointed to concerns about the Host Community Fund, which collects 36 percent of state tax revenue from marijuana and routes it to local communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo eliminate that revenue sharing fund with local communities that have acted in reliance on the existence of that fund would be fundamentally unfair,\u201d the group said. \u201cIt would also ignore the very real needs of the extensive investments local taxpayers have made in their local police forces, particularly in light of their enhanced monitoring, training, and enforcement responsibilities with the creation of Ohio\u2019s recreational<\/p>\n

While the increased excise tax rate appears to have been removed in the latest version of SB 56, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has separately indicated plans to double the double the current tax rate<\/a> via the budget process, raising it to 20 percent.<\/p>\n

Sen. Bill DeMora (D)\u00a0said<\/a> during an earlier committee hearing late last month that the proposal effectively amounts to legislators telling voters: \u201cScrew you, you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about. You passed it with an overwhelming majority in the state, but we know better than they did what they were voting on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huffman, the bill sponsor, said the legislation is not meant to \u201cdo away with the ballot initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s to work around the edges to make it better,\u201d he\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Certain Democrats have so far indicated a willingness to finesse the cannabis law, but they\u2019ve said Huffman\u2019s proposed changes to provisions around issues such as home cultivation are a bridge too far.<\/p>\n

Sen. Casey Weinstein (D), for example, has said there\u2019s \u201cdefinitely bipartisan support for protections in marketing to keep kids safe and sensible limitations on where you can use cannabis,\u201d but not for undermining fundamental components of what voters approved.<\/p>\n

The bill introduction comes as Ohio\u2019s GOP House speaker\u00a0seems to have changed his tune on the state\u2019s marijuana law<\/a>, walking back his previously stated plan to undermine provisions of the voter-approved initiative such as home cultivation rights.<\/p>\n

Conflicts between Senate and House Republican leadership near the end of the last session played a key role in stalling amendment proposals. It\u2019s unclear if the chambers will be able to reach consensus this round, especially as the market continues to evolve and consumers adopt to the law.<\/p>\n

Speaker Matt Huffman (R), who previously served as Senate president, said that while he continues to oppose the reform measure voters passed, he doesn\u2019t believe anyone in the legislature \u201crealistically is suggesting that we\u2019re going to repeal the legalization of marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not for it. I wasn\u2019t for the casinos coming to Ohio, either. But there\u2019s lots of stuff that\u2019s part of the Constitution and the law that are there that I don\u2019t like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To that end, the speaker indicated he\u2019s no longer interested in pursuing plans to broadly undermine the cannabis law,\u00a0despite having backed legislation as a Senate leader last session<\/a>\u00a0that would have decreased allowable THC levels in state-legal cannabis products, reduced the number of plants that adults could grow at home and increased costs for consumers at dispensaries.<\/p>\n

Initially,\u00a0changes backed by Matt Huffman<\/a>\u00a0last year would have\u00a0eliminated home cultivation rights entirely<\/a>\u00a0for Ohio adults and criminalized all cannabis obtained anywhere other than a state-licensed retailer.<\/p>\n

While some Democratic lawmakers have previously indicated that they may be amenable to certain revisions, such as putting certain cannabis tax revenue toward K-12 education, other supporters of the voter-passed legalization initiative are firmly against letting legislators undermine the will of the majority that approved it.<\/p>\n

NORML recently\u00a0launched<\/a> a letter-writing campaign urging Ohio residents to tell their state representatives to \u201ckeep your hands off Issue 2.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven before the ink on the new law is dry, some lawmakers are\u00a0calling<\/span>\u00a0on the legislature to amend or even repeal parts of the law. Prohibitionist groups are similarly encouraging lawmakers to take legislative action to thwart the will of the people,\u201d NORML wrote. \u201cWe must not let these groups accomplish through backroom deals what they couldn\u2019t accomplish at the ballot box. The will of the majority of Ohio\u2019s voters must be respected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, as 2024 came to a close with the new marijuana legalization law in effect, Ohio officials announced\u00a0the state saw adult-use cannabis sales exceed $242 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the 2025 session gets underway, lawmakers are also expected to consider key changes to the state\u2019s hemp laws. In November, legislators took testimony on a proposal that would ban intoxicating hemp products in the state. Stephen Huffman, the sponsor of the marijuana revision bill, introduced that proposal after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) called on lawmakers to regulate or ban delta-8 THC products<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Separately, despite legalization of adult-use cannabis in Ohio, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019s (VA) Cincinnati health center issued a reminder last summer that\u00a0government doctors are still prohibited from recommending medical cannabis to veterans<\/a>\u2014at least as long as it remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law.<\/p>\n

\n

GOP Congressman Files Bill To Let Military Veterans Get Medical Marijuana Recommendations From Government Doctors<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The post Ohio Senate Panel Takes Up Bill To Amend Voter-Approved Marijuana Legalization Law, But Removes Its Tax Provisions<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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An Ohio Senate panel on Tuesday took testimony on a bill that would significantly amend the state\u2019s voter-approved marijuana legalization law\u2014including by halving the number of plants adults could grow, creating additional criminal offenses and eliminating certain social equity provisions. Most testimony heard by the Senate General Government Committee\u2014which isContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80294,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80293\/revisions\/80294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}