COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Franklin County judge issued a ruling Tuesday to temporarily block Gov. Mike DeWine’s executive orders banning the sale of intoxicating hemp in the state of Ohio.
DeWine’s orders, signed on Oct. 8, gave the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) the authority to change the state’s administrative definition of what counts as hemp, with the directive to exclude intoxicating hemp products that contain delta-8, THCA, or similar psychoactive cannabinoids. He also signed an order requiring that retailers get rid of their unsold intoxicating hemp products.
Those orders, effective Tuesday, were challenged in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas last week by three retailers, including Fumee Smoke and Vape in West Chester Twp.
Plaintiffs in the case against DeWine and ODA argued that the Republican governor’s attempt to unilaterally regulate intoxicating hemp usurped the legislature’s power and conflict with settled Ohio law that legalized hemp products and defined hemp as any part of the cannabis plant that contains less than 0.3% delta-9, the psychoactive compound in marijuana that’s most commonly known as THC.
Specific details on the court’s ruling have not yet been made public, at the time of reporting.
DeWine’s unilateral orders came two years after initially urging, to no avail, the Ohio General Assembly to pass meaningful reforms on intoxicating hemp products, which can be sold to anyone at the retailer’s discretion and have been linked with an increased rate of poison control calls among Ohio youth.
“While we continue to fight in court, today’s developments underscore our continued desire to work with the General Assembly to pass permanent legislation regarding intoxicating hemp,” DeWine posted on X.
Ohio voters have opined on where they want cannabis sold by their passage of Issue 2, which passed with the support of 57% of Ohio voters. Issue 2 limited the sale of cannabis to dispensaries. The sale of cannabis as intoxicating hemp in these other venues was never…
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) October 14, 2025
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