Adults can now legally possess and grow marijuana in Ohio — but there’s nowhere to buy it
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WISH) — Ohioans woke up Thursday facing limbo as to the future of recreational marijuana use: Adults can now legally grow and possess cannabis at home, but cannot legally buy it.
On Wednesday night, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine urged lawmakers to quickly set parameters for Issue 2, the citizen initiative voters approved in November, according to the Associated Press. While the state Senate pushed through an 11th-hour deal hours before the law took effect, the Ohio House adjourned without taking it up.
DeWine worried openly about a worst-case scenario developing, saying black market sales could flourish or that fentanyl- or pesticide-laced marijuana products might become more accessible. He called the current state of affairs a “recipe for disaster,” the Associated Press reported.
Lawmakers had four months last year to act. As a citizen-initiated statute, Issue 2 had to be submitted to the Legislature first. After the GOP-controlled Legislature chose to do nothing, the measure was placed on the Nov. 7 ballot and passed with 57% of the vote, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press reported it allows adults 21 and over to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and to grow up to six plants per individual or 12 plants per household at home. It gave the state nine months to set up a system for legal marijuana purchases, subject to a 10% tax. Sales revenue was to be divided between administrative costs, addiction treatment, municipalities with dispensaries, promoting social equity and jobs programs supporting the cannabis industry itself.
With just days left before the law took effect, Senate Republicans proposed a sweeping rewrite of what voters approved, angering the issue’s backers and alarming both parties in the House, according to the Associated Press. It would have outlawed growing at home, cut the allowable amount of pot that can be possessed to 1 ounce and raised taxes on purchases to 15%. It would also eliminate tax revenue funding for social equity programs supporting the marijuana industry and direct most of the tax money raised to a general state government fund.
The compromise negotiated with DeWine and approved 28-2 by the Senate Wednesday would cut the number of household plants allowed to six, retain the higher 15% tax on purchases and reduce the allowable THC levels for cannabis extracts from 90% to 50%. The deal would restore a 2.5 ounce possession limit and allow 35% THC in plants while nixing state control of most of the revenue, the Associated Press reported.