CINCINNATI — Hemp shops and convenience stores across Ohio will be prohibited from selling intoxicating hemp products for 90 days starting Tuesday, Oct. 14, following Gov. Mike DeWine's executive order.
The governor issued the ban after state lawmakers failed to regulate the products, which are currently sold in gas stations, convenience stores and hemp shops without the same restrictions as marijuana dispensaries.
"To buy marijuana, a person must visit a licensed, regulated dispensary in the state of Ohio," DeWine said Wednesday. "Intoxicating hemp, on the other hand, is now being sold everywhere. And there are today, on the books, no limits on where it could be sold."
Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman acknowledged the legislature's inaction on the issue.
"Obviously, we were doing a lot in the first six months of the budget. We had the energy bill, and we had Senate Bill One. And we're trying to get this done by June," Huffman said. "I think that this stirs up the water. It gets everybody wanting to move."
Despite lawmakers' reactions to the ban, no legislative movement has occurred as of now.
WATCH: Hear what advocates had to say about the lack of action from Ohio lawmakers
Kevin Roy, Chief Public Policy Officer for Shatterproof, an organization that works to reverse the impacts of addiction, said there are research-backed solutions available.
In 2024, Shatterproof and other organizations encouraged Ohio lawmakers to pass legislation regulating intoxicating hemp products like delta-8.
Tim Johnson, founder and CEO of Cannabis Safety First, highlighted concerns about product quality and labeling.
"With a lot of these gas stations, minimarts, those shops you got products, it just says delta-8 or it says THC on, there's no ingredients, you have no idea what you're getting," Johnson said.
Advocates recommend that the legislature establish official age and location limits for intoxicating hemp product sales, mandate product testing, and implement strict packaging and labeling standards.
"If you go to a store, and you buy a ribeye steak, you want it to be a ribeye steak, not a piece of bologna," Johnson said.
The 90-day moratorium gives lawmakers time to develop permanent regulations for the products.
What has the Ohio legislature attempted before?
A Senate bill introduced late last year never went anywhere, but two senators created an alternate proposal. Here's what that proposal looked like:
- Allowed licensed marijuana dispensaries to sell strong hemp products. Gas stations and convenience stores would be banned from selling them.
- Defined strong hemp products as anything with more than half a milligram of THC that people can smoke, eat or drink.
- Hemp products would’ve faced a 15% tax, and THC beverages would be taxed at $3.50 per gallon.
- Restaurants and breweries could sell low-THC drinks with strict limits on potency and package size.
- The bill would’ve also made it illegal to drive under the influence of hemp products or have open THC drinks in vehicles.
Three businesses are currently suing over DeWine's temporary ban on "intoxicating" hemp, low-level THC products such as delta 8.
The members of the Ohio Healthy Alternatives Association, which advocates for alternatives to alcohol and prescription drugs, quickly filed the lawsuit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas after the governor announced the ban.
