COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Senate raced legislation across the finish line on Dec. 9, approving a major overhaul of the voter-approved statute that legalized adult-use cannabis, banning intoxicating hemp products, and authorizing drinkable cannabinoid products for one year.

Senators voted 22–7 along party lines to adopt a House-backed conference committee report on Senate Bill 56 and sent the bill to Gov. Mike DeWine.

Sen. Stephen Huffman, R-Tipp City, who sponsored S.B. 56, told colleagues that the bill would tighten oversight of Ohio’s cannabis industry. After voters passed Issue 2 in November 2023, licensed dispensaries began serving adults 21 and older in August 2024.

“The bill clears up vague language in the ballot initiative,” Huffman said. “It keeps the core of Issue 2 intact while adding public-safety protections and regulations to safeguard children.”

How Voter-Approved Statute Was Rewritten

S.B. 56 would rewrite the voter-approved statute by:

  • Banning public cannabis use at concerts, bar patios, hotels and other venues

  • Criminalizing possession of cannabis purchased outside Ohio

  • Criminalizing possession or transport of cannabis not in its original packaging

  • Criminalizing home grows that exceed six plants per adult or 12 per residence

  • Banning smoking or vaping cannabis on rental property when leases prohibit it

  • Removing protections for passengers carrying open cannabis containers in vehicles

  • Ending workplace protections for adults who consume cannabis privately

  • Scrapping nondiscrimination protections involving parental rights and medical procedures such as organ transplants

  • Capping dispensaries at 400 statewide

  • Lowering the THC cap for concentrates from 90% to 70%

  • Restricting home growers to no more than 2.5 ounces from their harvests

  • Diverting excise tax revenue away from social-equity, jobs, education and addiction-treatment programs and into the state’s general fund.

Bill A Spit In The Face For Ohio Voters 

Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, a member of the conference committee, blasted the final bill as a “spit in the face” to the 57.2% of voters who backed Issue 2.

“Ohioans voted to regulate marijuana like alcohol,” DeMora said. “This body has spent two years trying to undermine that vote.”

If DeWine signs S.B. 56, the state will still impose Issue 2’s 10% excise tax and direct 36% of that revenue to municipalities that allow dispensaries. As of Dec. 2, 132 localities had moratoriums in place—locking themselves out of tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue, according to Ohio State University’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center.

But S.B. 56 would reroute the remaining tax revenue—originally meant for social-equity, jobs, education and addiction-treatment initiatives—into the state’s general revenue fund.

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, praised the bill’s expungement provision but criticized it for failing to fund the expungement process.

“People can seek expungement, but not everyone can afford it,” she said. “Access to money will determine who gets a clean record.”

Antonio also noted that lawmakers excluded social-equity and criminal-justice reforms from the bill.

Intoxicating Hemp Products Banned

Although Antonio and DeMora opposed S.B. 56 as a whole, both supported its hemp-related provisions, which aim to protect children and bolster public health and safety.

Sen. Shane Wilkin, R-Hillsboro, another conferee, detailed the bill’s changes to Ohio’s unregulated hemp market. S.B. 56 would bring state law in line with federal rules by banning hemp-derived products that:

  • Contain more than 0.4 mg of total THC per container

  • Use cannabinoids not naturally produced by the plant (e.g., HHC)

  • Use cannabinoids that can occur naturally but were synthesized outside the plant (e.g., delta-8 THC)

While the federal ban won’t take effect until November 2026, S.B. 56 would fast-track the prohibition to 90 days after DeWine signs the bill.

“We’re cracking down on untested, unregulated products marketed toward children,” Wilkin said.

At the same time, the bill would allow drinkable cannabinoid products for one year. These beverages could contain up to 5 mg of THC in 12-ounce containers and could be sold only at liquor-licensed establishments that verify customers are at least 21. Producers would need lab tests and certificates of analysis.

“That ensures we know what’s in them and where they came from,” Wilkin said.

S.B. 56 had stalled for months after the Senate passed it in February. But DeWine’s October executive order pausing sales of intoxicating hemp products revived the bill and pushed House lawmakers to act. With DeWine continuing to warn about child-targeted packaging and unregulated intoxicants, he appears likely to sign the bill.