Ohio – In Ohio, folks found themselves in a tricky spot on Thursday where they could legally grow and have weed at home but couldn’t legally buy it anywhere. This situation came to be after voters said “yes” to a new rule in November. Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, called this mix a “recipe for disaster” on Wednesday evening. He pushed for a new law that would set clear rules on how to manage this new weed law, called Issue 2. The Senate in Ohio agreed to this new law right before it was supposed to start, but the House didn’t go for it. They decided to wait, seeing no hurry.
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Governor DeWine thinks this will lead to more illegal weed sales, including dangerous ones mixed with harmful stuff like fentanyl or pesticides, which could hurt Ohioans. This could be especially risky for kids around second-hand smoke during holiday parties.
One official joked that growing weed without buying it seems like a miracle.
Jamie Callender, a Republican in the state House, disagreed with the rush to set up legal sales. On Wednesday, he told a committee there’s no urgent deadline and that growing and having weed at home should be fine for now.
Callender emphasized the importance of taking time to think this through properly and to respect what the voters want.
The House Speaker, Jason Stephens, didn’t talk to the press on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Bill Seitz, another Republican in the House, stood by the decision to wait before acting on the new law proposal, which is now 160 pages long and attached to another bill they’ll look at again next week.
“We’re not going to pass, sight unseen, such a monstrous proposition in 48 hours. That’s nuts,” Seitz said. Lawmakers need adequate time to work through the complexities of setting up Ohio’s adult-use cannabis sales, taxation and regulatory structure, he said.
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Last year, Ohio’s state lawmakers had a whole four months to decide on a new weed law known as Issue 2. This law came from the people, meaning it had to pass through the lawmakers before it could be voted on by everyone in the state. When the legislature, controlled by Republicans, didn’t take action, the issue was put to a vote on November 7 and got a thumbs up from 57% of voters.
The law as approved lets adults aged 21 and up buy and have up to 2.5 ounces of weed. It also lets people grow up to six plants each, or 12 plants for each household. The state was given nine months to figure out how to let people buy weed legally, putting a 10% tax on these sales. The money from this tax was supposed to cover the costs of setting this all up, help with addiction treatment, support cities with weed shops, and fund programs for job creation and fairness in the weed business.
But, right before this law was set to start, Senate Republicans wanted to change a lot of what people had voted for. This upset many folks, including some from their own party. Their original plan was to stop people from growing weed at home, lower the amount you could have to 1 ounce, increase the tax on weed to 15%, cut the financial support for fairness programs in the weed industry, and send most of the tax money to the state’s general fund.
The deal they ended up making kept the tax at 15% but let people grow six plants per household, allowed for a 2.5-ounce possession limit, set a 35% THC level for plants, and stopped the state from taking most of the tax money. This new plan also decided to wipe clean the criminal records of people caught with up to 2.5 ounces of weed and added rules to protect kids, like making sure weed products are in child-safe packages and banning ads aimed at them. This was enough to get Democrats on board.
According to Steven Steinglass, a big expert on Ohio’s constitution, Ohio has never seen such big changes to a law started by its citizens before.
“Understand, this has never happened in Ohio, because the voters have only approved three initiated statutes in 111 years, and none of the three have been amended, repealed or fiddled with by the General Assembly,” he said.
If legislators veer too far from the statute voters approved, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the campaign behind Issue 2, or some other group can always pursue a referendum.
“Because the proponents have some important constitutionally-authorized tools they might use, that should give the legislators an incentive to sit down with the proponents to perhaps reach a compromise over changes the legislators feel are necessary and that proponents feel are not violative of their legislative intent,” Steinglass said.
Huffman said the compromise legislation is respectful of voters, while addressing important concerns.
“I’m opposed to (legalization), but it’s the law,” the Senate president said. “We don’t want illegal sales — the black market if you will — to get a foothold.”
Meanwhile, there are plenty of aspects of the new Ohio law that can be immediately enforced, said Louis Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.
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“As of Thursday, it’s going to be very difficult to find probable cause and to prosecute people who are carrying around less than 2.5 ounces of marijuana, but prosecutors and law enforcement are still going to be on the lookout,” Tobin said. “People smoking in cars are still breaking the law, people carrying around more than 2.5 ounces are still breaking the law, people engaging in private sales are still breaking the law, people driving under the influence are still breaking the law.”