A six-member committee of state lawmakers met late Wednesday into early Thursday to recommend a slew of changes to cannabis statute as well as a ban on intoxicating hemp, including hemp-derived THC and CBD beverages.
The Ohio House then voted 52-34, around 1 a.m., to send back to that chamber for one last vote on what looks to be a largely done deal, after three years of on-again, off-again negotiations.
鈥淲e moved a long way from, this was going to be done at 8:30 a.m.,鈥� Rep. Tex Fischer (R-Boardman) said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 after midnight. A lot of accommodations were made to get to the point where it was the will of our caucus to proceed.鈥�
Most of the House Democratic caucus joined nine House GOP members in voting against it.
鈥淎t the end of the day, we are in the minority,鈥� Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake) said. 鈥淭his is a gerrymandered state, and I do what I can to make bad bills less bad. We made that bill less bad, and what they did was make it even worse.鈥�
Still, the legislature ultimately left for Thanksgiving without sending Gov. Mike DeWine the latest version of the long debated and heavily amended SB 56鈥攕ince the Senate adjourned hours before the conference committee convened. The Senate could return for session next month, Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said.
Lawmakers have gone back and forth over modifying recreational marijuana laws since it became legal for Ohioans 21 and older in December 2023. Efforts to regulate mostly unregulated hemp have been rolled into that debate, though a federal hemp ban taking effect late next year has most recently caused strife.
SB 56 now mirrors that ban on THC beverages, but other 鈥渋ntoxicating鈥� hemp could be banned much sooner.
鈥淲e had already whittled down most retailers where those could be sold,鈥� Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to have the 90 days of runway that鈥檚 in the bill.鈥�
Among many other measures, SB 56 distributes more than $80 million in tax revenue over the next two fiscal years through what鈥檚 known as the Host Community Cannabis Fund, which would go to cities and towns with dispensaries.
David Bowling, the executive director of the Ohio Cannabis Coalition, lauded the likely release of the funds so dispensaries can 鈥済ive back to the communities where they live and work.鈥�
Between the House and Senate, dozens of other unrelated bills got a vote earlier Wednesday in a marathon session.