Why Ohio chambers are not seeing eye-to-eye on 'intoxicating hemp' bill
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Governor Mike DeWine has been calling on lawmakers to create restrictions on what he calls “intoxicating hemp,” products.
“I think that we need to resolve this hemp issue. It’s a serious problem,” Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said. “I’d like to get that resolved before the end of the year. I know the governor wants to do that also.”
“We’ll have regulation, we should have regulation,” Ohio House Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) said. “I'd like to get that resolved before the end of the year.”
Delta-8, and some other hemp products, can be bought by anyone at any age in the state and it can give users a mild high effect, similar to marijuana.
“It should be age restricted and it should be put behind the counter,” Seitz said. “We put Sudafed behind the counter for God's sake. We should put this stuff behind the counter.”
While leadership at the Ohio Statehouse agrees something needs to be done, they are still working out the details. House Bill 642, for example, would task the Ohio Department of Agriculture with studying the product, then creating a report to set temporary rules about age restrictions, where delta-8 can be sold, and testing standards. A penalty would also be enacted for selling adult-use hemp products to minors.
But the most recent bill that has been introduced, called Senate Bill 326 would ban all “intoxicating hemp” products from being sold in the state and creates an offense for doing so.
“I don't think we need to go that far,” Seitz said. “It's a pretty complex issue. But I simply boil it down to it's a dangerous product with no regulation of any kind. In my mind, these are products that aren't illegal but probably should be. The states can ban them, and I think [Ohio] should ban them.”
SB 326 does not impact “true CBD products,” like oils and creams. Lawmakers agree that Ohio departments of commerce and agriculture need some legal oversight to regulate the market and new products that arise too.
Sponsor of Senate Bill 326 Senator Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) said that is so they can “quickly identify what is intoxicating and ban it.” Seitz said it is so the Ohio Department of Agriculture can “come up with a serious testing regime for these products,” so they know what is safe and what should be age restricted.
“To ban it altogether, I think, would be a hardship on those thousands and thousands of small businesses that sell this product,” Seitz said.
“We know the children are buying these, we know it's marketed to children,” Huffman said. “It's just sort of reminiscent of the bath salts discussion.”
Lawmakers on both sides of the argument said they are open to more discussion about what the final legislation will be. SB 326 does not impact the state’s adult-use market, Though, lawmakers are still considering changes to the state’s adult-use laws. Huffman said looking at revising those laws is a “top of the list" priority.