Stock photo of a marijuana dispensary from Getty Images.
A week after Ohio Senate Republicans passed a bill that would overhaul the state’s marijuana law, Ohio House Republicans introduced their own proposal. Their version would keep home grow and tax levels the same, but reduce THC levels and redirect most of the tax revenue.
State Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, introduced Ohio House Bill 160 during a press conference Thursday. Similar to the Senate’s bill, the House’s bill would reduce the THC levels in marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90% down to a maximum of 70% and caps the number of marijuana dispensaries to 350. The bill, however, would keep the 10% tax on marijuana and keep Ohio’s home grow at 12 plants.
“Our bill preserves the core of Issue Two, while also adding important protections for Ohio’s minors and addressing the issue of intoxicating hemp,” Stewart said, noting his goal is to pass a marijuana bill before the lawmakers go on summer break.
Ohioans passed a citizen-initiated law to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023 with 57% of the vote, and sales started in August 2024. Ohio lawmakers can change the law since it passed as a citizen initiative. The state’s total recreational marijuana sales were $361,994,872 as of Saturday, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control.
“Every product that is legal today will remain legal under this bill,” Stewart said. “I think we are making very, very few changes here. … We’re not touching any of the core parts of Issue Two.”
The bill deals directly with intoxicating hemp by requiring every THC product to be treated like marijuana and only be sold at the state’s regulated marijuana dispensaries.
“Simply put, if it gets you high, it goes through a dispensary,” Stewart said. “I don’t think Ohioans are excited about the fact that you get essentially the same thing that’s less safe from a local gas station. I don’t want my kids to go walk into your local gas station chain and buy marijuana.”
The bill would change how the marijuana tax revenue is directed, sending a “bulk of tax revenue to Ohio’s general fund,” Stewart said, mentioning he worked closely with House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, on drafting the bill.
Even though legal weed sales started last year, Ohioans could start legally growing marijuana at home shortly after Issue Two passed in 2023.
“I think the longer you wait, the harder it is to make substitute changes,” Stewart said. “I think in the real world, folks who are growing 12 plants today are not likely to grow less than 12 plants just because we passed a law at the Statehouse.”
H.B. 160 prohibits using marijuana in public spaces, but allows for smoking inside a privately owned property, including outside on a residential front porch.
“It’s legal to use these products at your home,” Stewart said.
The bill would also offer expungement for prior convictions for marijuana related offenses.
“As the views of Ohioans have shifted on the issue of marijuana, our laws should reflect that, and allowing people to remove these offenses from their criminal record is good policy,” Stewart said.
Even though the Senate recently passed their own bill, Stewart doesn’t think his bill will create a possible standstill where nothing gets passed.
“I’m going to leave it to the two gentlemen that hold the gavel as to which bill is moving, but it’s one or the other,” Stewart said.
The Ohio Cannabis Coalition (OHCANN) is still digesting this latest piece of legislation, but Deputy Executive Director Adrienne Robbins seemed optimistic about H.B 160.
“We do think this is a really positive step forward,” she said. “When you look at the Senate bill and the different iterations of it that came out, I think this is another step forward, and it does make us feel like lawmakers are one, listening to us, but then, maybe more importantly, listening to consumers’ concerns as well.”
What’s in the Senate marijuana bill?
Senate Bill 56 would significantly change Ohio’s weed laws.
The bill would limit Ohio’s home grow from 12 plants down to six, reduce the THC levels from a maximum of 90% to a maximum of 70%, and mandates that marijuana can only be used in a private residence.
S.B. 56 allows someone to apply to the sentencing court to have their record expunged if they were convicted or plead guilty to possessing 2.5 ounces of marijuana before the state law went into effect. Under the bill, the applicant must pay a $50 filing fee.
The bill would combine the state’s medical and recreational marijuana programs under the Division of Cannabis Control, require marijuana be transported in the trunk of a car when traveling, and would limit the number of active dispensaries to 350.
It would also ban Ohioans from using marijuana that is not either from a licensed Ohio dispensary or cultivated at a consumer’s home. This would make it illegal for Ohioans to drive up to Michigan to purchase marijuana and bring it back over state lines.
The bill originally dealt with taxes and how funds were distributed, but those provisions were removed during committee.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed budget, which is currently being heard in the Ohio House, increases the tax on marijuana from 10% to 20%. The budget is due July 1.
Potential déjà vu?
This is not the first time both chambers have tried to pass their own legislation in attempts to change the state’s marijuana law.
Shortly after Ohioans voted to legalize marijuana, the Ohio Senate quickly passed a bill that would have made major changes to the law that would have affected taxes and home grow, but the Ohio House never brought the bill to the floor.
Instead, state Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, introduced a bill that would have clarified some of Issue 2’s language, but it never made it out of committee.
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