COLUMBUS, Ohio — The campaign to repeal GOP-created marijuana restrictions and a total ban on intoxicating hemp products will not be making the ballot after they failed to collect enough signatures, according to their spokesperson. The law will go into effect Friday.
Signed into law in December, Senate Bill 56 makes dramatic changes to marijuana usage and bans low-level THC hemp products.
The Ohioans for Cannabis Choice campaign said it was unable to turn in the 250,000 valid signatures needed by its March 19 deadline.
"We want to thank the more than 5,000 Ohioans and businesses who volunteered their time and sweat to try to collect the signatures needed to put SB 56 before voters. Unfortunately, we were not able to overcome a truncated time period to give voters the chance to say no to government overreach. This doesn’t change the reality that marijuana will be re-criminalized in Ohio, businesses will close, workers will lose their jobs, and consumers will be denied their right to products they should be able to purchase,” spokesperson Dennis Willard said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
“Voters overwhelmingly supported legalizing cannabis in 2023. It only makes sense that Gov. DeWine and state lawmakers should go back and ask those voters if they want to ban hemp and re-criminalize marijuana. We know, and our elected leaders know, the answer would be a resounding no,” Willard said.
Under S.B. 56, a dozen voter-approved provisions were criminalized.
The bill institutes a public smoking ban and prohibits smoking in cars. Also, it gives landlords the ability to prohibit smoking and vaping, bans outdoor venues from allowing marijuana and requires all products to be kept in the same package they were bought in.
It also makes it a crime to have an "open" marijuana container, meaning if someone has a baggie of edibles in the backseat of a Lyft or on a public bus — if it had ever been opened, they would be breaking the law.
It also makes it a crime to buy out-of-state cannabis. Federal law currently doesn't allow marijuana to go across state lines, but it isn't enforced. This would be an enforceable state provision preventing a citizen from going to Michigan, where the weed is cheaper, to buy.
The legislation also removes protections against discrimination for housing, employment and even organ donation.
As well, Democrats argue that a provision would allow for police to have probable cause during traffic stops if someone is a "known consumer" of marijuana.
For years, GOP leaders have argued that not only do they know what voters truly wanted when each person went to the polls, but that voters didn't know.
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