Ohio CBD Retailers Push Back Against Effort To Limit Hemp Products To Marijuana Dispensaries

“Should these restrictions pass, they would eliminate 90 percent of the non-intoxicating full-spectrum hemp products we currently offer.”

By Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal

Ohio CBD retailer house owners are involved a few invoice that may regulate intoxicating hemp and drinkable cannabinoid products one thing that would doubtlessly put them out of enterprise.

Fourteen folks submitted opponent testimony and 4 folks submitted supporter testimony for Ohio Senate Bill 86 throughout Tuesday’s Senate General Government Committee assembly. No supporters confirmed up on the assembly to testify in individual.

“Should these restrictions pass, they would eliminate 90 percent of the non-intoxicating full-spectrum hemp products we currently offer,” mentioned Jaimee Courtney, proprietor of Bellefontaine’s Sunmed Your CBD Store. “This would drive consumers to unregulated online markets, creating potential safety risks and diverting significant tax revenue out of Ohio.”

The invoice would require intoxicating hemp merchandise to be offered solely at adult-use marijuana dispensaries as a substitute of permitting them to be offered at CBD shops, comfort shops, smoke outlets or fuel stations.

The invoice would additionally impose a 15 p.c tax on intoxicating hemp merchandise, ban gross sales to anybody beneath 21 and solely enable intoxicating hemp merchandise to be offered at dispensaries if the merchandise have been examined and adjust to requirements for packaging, labeling and promoting.

Ohio state Sens. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) and Shane Wilkin (R-Hillsboro) launched SB 86. Eleven folks submitted testimony in support of the bill last week—together with folks within the marijuana enterprise, poison management employees and non secular organizations.

“The people walking into our stores are not looking to get high, they are looking for relief,” mentioned Robert McClure, proprietor of Centerville and Deerfield Township’s Sunmed Your CBD Store. “Most of our customers will not go to a dispensary for a multitude of reasons.”

He mentioned his retailer requires clients to be a minimum of 21 years outdated to purchase their merchandise, that are all third-party examined.

“We have concerns that the language in SB 86 would ban most of all other types of hemp products from retail sales and driving them to an unsafe, illicit environment with no age restrictions,” mentioned Kristin Mullins, president of the Ohio Grocers Association.

Instead, she needs lawmakers to implement age restrictions, guarantee product labeling and require testing procedures.

“Bad actors exist, but responsible businesses outnumber them,” mentioned household doctor Bridget Cole Williams. “If this legislation passes, it will harm reputable businesses while failing to address real concerns. Limitation doesn’t solve the problem; it merely creates a space for an illicit market to grow.”

Jim Higdon, co-founder of Cornbread Hemp in Kentucky, agrees with the age restrictions and laws concerning client security however has points with different elements of the invoice.

“The strict caps proposed by SB 86 would eliminate all effective hemp products for Ohioans looking for natural product supplements to support their legitimate wellness needs,” he mentioned.

Cornbread Hemp sells its merchandise in additional than 30 Ohio retail shops, together with 10 Fresh Thyme Market places.

“The customers at these stores tend to be older adults with expendable incomes, not teenagers looking for a cheap, unregulated high,” Higdon mentioned.

The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill says hemp may be legally grown if it comprises lower than 0.3 p.c THC. Ohio is one in all about 20 states that does have any laws round intoxicating hemp merchandise, based on an Ohio State University Drug Enforcement and Policy Center research from November 2024.

This story was first published by Ohio Capital Journal.

Ohio’s GOP Governor Pushes To Shift Marijuana Tax Revenue To Support Police And Jails

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.