Ohio’s Cannabis Rollback Takes Effect as SB 56 Reshapes Legal Market

Ohio’s rollback of its voter-approved cannabis law officially took effect on March 20, reshaping both the state’s adult-use marijuana program and the once-booming market for intoxicating hemp products. 

Senate Bill 56, passed by Republican lawmakers late last year, bans the sale of intoxicating hemp items including THC and CBD beverages, adds new criminal penalties for common cannabis activity, and tightens potency limits for regulated marijuana. The law took effect after a proposed referendum to repeal SB 56 failed to gather enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Measure Threatens Hemp Businesses

For thousands of small businesses, the immediate impact of the legislation is severe. Hemp farmer Joey Ellwood of Tuscarawas County told the Ohio Capital Journal that the customers who rely on his products are not seeking intoxication, but relief. 

“Customers that seek our products out are often those very same customers that deal with stress, sleep, pain, and anxiety, and they’re not trying to get high,” Ellwood said. “They might have to turn to pharmaceuticals. They might have to drive across state lines. It’s really a big question mark. They might be forced into undue burden with the pain, stress, sleep, and anxiety.”

The new law criminalizes the possession of intoxicating hemp products and requires retailers to remove them from shelves immediately. It also prohibits THC beverages outright after Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a provision that would have temporarily allowed low-dose drinks through the end of the year. Several companies, including beverage makers and hemp manufacturers, have filed lawsuits seeking to block the law, arguing that they face felony charges and financial ruin without relief.

Cannabis advocates also hoped to repeal the changes to Issue 2, the 2023 initiative that legalized recreational pot in Ohio, but they failed to collect enough signatures to place the proposal on the ballot.

New Law Caps THC Levels

SB 56 also rewrites key parts of Ohio’s adult-use marijuana system, which voters approved with Issue 2. The law caps THC levels in concentrates at 70%, limits flower to 35% THC, prohibits marijuana consumption in many public places, and tightens rules on transporting cannabis. Bringing legally purchased marijuana from another state into Ohio is now a crime, and drivers must store opened cannabis in the trunk of their vehicle.

Advocates say the legislature ignored the will of the voters. Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said the Ohio legislature’s “arrogant decision to undermine Issue 2 is a slap in the face to millions of Ohio voters.” 

“At the end of the day, lawmakers’ desire to roll back legalization has nothing to do with the law not working as intended, and everything to do with legislators disapproving of how their constituents voted on a major public policy issue,” he said in a statement from the cannabis policy reform advocacy group.

Regulated Operators Applaud SB 56

Supporters of SB 56, including many in the regulated cannabis industry and the Ohio Cannabis Coalition (OHCANN), maintain that the legislation closes the 2018 Farm Bill’s intoxicating hemp loophole. 

“S.B. 56 gives law enforcement clear authority to ensure that intoxicating THC products are no longer freely sold to children through thousands of locations in Ohio,” OHCANN Executive Director David Bowling said. “This law will prevent unregulated products from reaching children and strengthen public safety across Ohio.”

Jason Vedadi, CEO of Story Cannabis, an MSO with six retail locations in Ohio, tells IgniteIt that the changes are necessary to protect public safety.

“Our priority at Story has always been to provide the best retail experience with the highest possible safety standards,” he writes in an emailed statement. “The new regulations under Senate Bill 56 solidify that commitment by ensuring every product on our shelves, from flower to edibles, meets the most rigorous testing and potency requirements in the country. We see this as an opportunity to further educate our guests on the benefits of a fully regulated market, where quality, safety, and transparency are the baseline, never the exception.”