The hemp bill adds conditions for growing marijuana at home, bans smoking in public

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A sweeping new bill would introduce delta-8-THC products into recreational marijuana dispensaries and require Ohioans to sign affidavits saying they won’t sell products if they grow marijuana at home, among several changes to the laws of state regarding marijuana.

Senate Bill 278 would also ban the smoking and vaping of marijuana in public. And it would expand the conditions under which someone can qualify for medical marijuana to include autism and opioid use disorder and any other condition that a doctor deems as debilitating as other conditions on the medical cannabis list, which varies from cancer and glaucoma to pain. either chronic and severe or intractable.

For businesses, the bill would give tax breaks to the cannabis industry and require additional labeling on marijuana if radiation is used to kill the mold.

SB 278 is sponsored by Republican state Sens. Kirk Schuring of Canton and Stephen Huffman of the Dayton area. The bill likely has little chance of passage before the end of the summer, as the Ohio Senate only has two sessions scheduled in June. The bill would first have to pass committee hearings before moving to the floor and would also need approval in the Ohio House. The General Assembly usually adjourns for July and August.

Meanwhile, it’s a matter of weeks before recreational marijuana is expected to be legally sold in dispensaries to adults 21 and older. Voters legalized adult cannabis last November, and the state is creating regulations for the program.

Members of the hemp industry, which includes the production and sale of delta-8-THC products, and home-grown advocates are not happy with the bill. Cleveland.com / The Plain Dealer left a message for a spokesman for the trade association that represents businesses that will benefit from sales of recreational marijuana and hemp.

Delta-8-THC is technically considered hemp because it has low levels of THC. It is usually sold in the form of candies and vape cartridges in gas stations, head shops, health stores and online. Consumed in sufficient quantities, people get sick. The products fall into a legal loophole that Congress and SB 278 are trying to close. Delta-9-THC and other forms of THC would also be targeted by the bill.

Governor Mike DeWine has rallied against Delta-8 since learning that teenagers were buying the products at a gas station.

READ MORE: Gov. Mike DeWine takes on candy-style delta-8-THC products. What is it and how is it different from traditional marijuana?

SB 278 would create a category of hemp called an “adult hemp product,” defined based on THC content and number of servings. These products are supposed to be sold to adults 21 and older in recreational marijuana dispensaries that are set to open in the coming weeks.

READ MORE: Recreational marijuana dispensary applications coming in by Friday, but don’t expect next-day sales, says Ohio cannabis chief

Some people enjoy the benefits of cannabidiol oils, also known as CBD oils. They will not be regulated as adult products and can still be sold in health stores and gas stations if their THC content remains below the parameters in SB 278.

Ohio Licensed Hemp Companies

While many out-of-state companies flood gas stations with delta-8 products that are marketed to children or to make people, there are 33 hemp processors licensed by the Ohio Department of Agriculture who say they sell to reputable stores that check IDs to make sure the buyer is 18 or 19 years old. The Department of Agriculture requires these licensees to test every batch of hemp to make sure there are no heavy metals, pesticides and other issues that can affect the health and safety of consumers.

Many of these licensees are not happy with the bill. They believe it will be nearly impossible to get their products into recreational marijuana dispensaries because many of them in Ohio are owned by companies that also have licenses to grow and manufacture their own products and will only start their own low dose and microdose lines. THC products instead of allowing competitors to sell in their space.

“I don’t think low-dose licensed products need to be sold at dispensaries,” said Brian Samuels, senior vice president of research and development and science at Parma-based Buoyant Brands. “They (dispensaries) only carry their own products and you can’t get into those networks.”

Buoyant Brands sells only THC-free CBD chocolate in smoke shops and vineyards, and its core business would not be directly affected by the bill. However, the company does business with other brands, helping them develop THC candies at different price points, and SB 278 could interfere with that part of the company, Samuels said.

Home growing statements

SB 278 would require people who grow marijuana plants at home to file an affidavit with the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control promising to comply with the law — which allows up to six pants per adult and 12 total per household. They also promise not to sell any cannabis. The requirement would begin 90 days after the bill takes effect.

A violation would be a second-degree misdemeanor or a first-degree misdemeanor with subsequent violations, the bill states.

Nearly 2.3 million Ohioans voted to legalize recreational marijuana in November, and a key component of the law was home cultivation, said John Lutz, or “Johnny Cannabis,” who runs OhioCannabis.com, a news and culture. Lutz also travels to farmers markets around the state to educate people about home growing.

“It’s totally unjustified,” he said. “They’re not worried about people brewing beer at home, why are they worried about cannabis?”

When Ohio voters cast their ballots, they were asked if they wanted the state to regulate marijuana like alcohol. In fact, the campaign website was called JustLikeAlcohol.com. Lutz believes marijuana growers are treated worse than beer brewers.

People could forego home cultivation with such barriers and just get their marijuana from dispensaries, he said.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful to the positions, but everybody down there (Columbus legislators) is an office worker for the people, not a king or queen to rule us based on their own opinions or push the corporation . interests,” he said.

New conditions and no smoking or vaping in public

For years, members of the public have tried to add autism to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana. But the Ohio State Medical Board has consistently refused, often relying on the advice of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, which was paid to test a marijuana-derived drug for a pharmaceutical company.

The addition of these and all conditions is a good sign, said Greg May, a Columbus attorney who represents marijuana and hemp licensees.

“The medical program has been fighting to have autism added to the qualifying condition for years, as well as opioid use disorder,” he said. “But the autism piece is a big one. Adding autism is a big win for the medical program and medical patients. While everyone is talking about adult use, I think this shows that we are not giving up on patients here in Ohio.”

Huffman is a doctor outside of his job as a lawmaker and has tried to add conditions to other marijuana legislation.

SB 278 would prohibit people from smoking, vaping or using any other combustible form of marijuana in a public place or most workplaces.

Although proponents of the recreational marijuana-initiated statute believe the law is clear that state smoking bans also apply to marijuana, and that many private establishments may choose to allow smoking, many lawmakers and Ohio Division of Cannabis Control Superintendent James Canepa believe the initiated statute it is not clear enough.

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Taxes and radiation

The IRS allows most businesses to deduct “ordinary and necessary” business expenses. Because marijuana is federally illegal, Ohio cannabis businesses do not receive this benefit. SB 278 would allow businesses to get those deductions in Ohio. At this time, no fiscal analysis has been conducted for the bill to estimate how much these deductions would cost the state.

Marijuana sold at dispensaries cannot test positive for mold because it is not safe for consumption. Ohio and US industry, along with agricultural food producers, use irradiation to remove mold, microbes and other contaminants. The amount of radiation is not believed to affect the users or the composition of the marijuana, but some people believe that the radiation affects the terpenes responsible for the smell and flavor of marijuana.

Cleveland.com/ The Plain Dealer reached out to Huffman, who has been working on the bill for several months, for an explanation of why he wants additional labeling on cannabis products that have been irradiated.

Laura Hancock covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.