- Senate Bill 56 Full Text .PDF
- Summary of Senate Bill 56 at Marijuana Policy Project
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- Ohio Attorney General Approves Referendum To Reverse Marijuana And Hemp Restrictions
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- Yost Sues Multistate Cannabis Operators for Anti-Competitive Practices
Marijuana freedom is under attack with Ohio Senate Bill 56. This bill seeks to to increase criminalization of responsible marijuana users in opposition to what Ohio residents voted for in November 2023.
SB 56 would criminalize cannabis that hasn’t been homegrown by your own self or licensed by the Division of Cannabis Control. It would eliminate hemp shops.
SB 56 would make you a criminal if you stored your dried-out store-bought weed in a jar with a humidity packet, because it wouldn’t be in the original packaging. SB 56 would make you a criminal if you didn’t have your sealed cannabis product in the trunk or behind the farthest back seat when you drive. How would this affect legal marijuana drive-thrus?
SB 56 would remove legal protections in regards to cannabis for organ transplants, child custody cases and professional licensing. SB 56 would make it a misdemeanor offense to smoke a joint on an outdoor bar patio alongside tobacco smokers. It would even be a misdemeanor to smoke or vape cannabis at a rented home if your landlord complied.
The Ohio Cannabis Coalition (also known as OHCANN), a lobbyist group comprised of big marijuana businesses, have come out publicly to support SB 56, as this would force consumers to buy weed from them or else become a criminal. Multi-state cannabis companies also seek to eliminate Level-3 cultivation, which was approved by voters in November 2023.
Level-3 cultivation would allow small business owners to open legal cultivation sites in Ohio and provide craft cannabis to DCC-licensed dispensaries. Right now, many brands available in Ohio dispensaries have out-of-state owners. Read about MSOs, or multi-state operators at Leafly.
The governor also desires to allocate recreational marijuana tax revenue to support police and jails, which is the opposite of what we voted for in November 2023.
Read a summary of the proposed changes at MPP.ORG.
Sign the petition against SB 56 before March 20th at Herb Hub at 2517 Mogadore Road in Akron and also at the following locations:
