Connect with us

Cannabis News

Ohio Cannabis Industry Divided Over Referendum To Block Marijuana And Hemp Restrictions

Published

2 months ago

on

“The referendum effort is about putting profits from unregulated hemp and gas station weed sales over people.”

By Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal

Ohioans for Cannabis Choice can start collecting signatures to get one Referendum votes to block state voter-approved recreational marijuana law change. and ban intoxicating hemp products. But there are others in the industry who disagree with the new effort.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost this week approved a referendum that would repeal Ohio Senate Bill 56, which takes effect March 20. Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed the bill into law on Dec. 19.

Yost’s approval comes after the language was initially rejected due to “omissions and misrepresentations,” but Cannabis Choice for Ohio made changes to the language and resubmitted the application.

“My certification … should not be construed as an endorsement of the enforceability and constitutionality of the referendum petition,” Yost wrote in the letter certifying the petition.

Ohioans voted to legalize marijuana in 2023, with recreational sales beginning in August 2024 and sales exceeding $836 million in 2025.

The new law will reduce THC levels in adult marijuana extracts from 90 percent to a maximum of 70 percent, limit THC levels in adult flower to 35 percent, and ban smoking in most public places.

Possession of marijuana outside of its original container is prohibited criminalizes bringing marijuana from another state into Ohio. The legislation also requires drivers to keep marijuana in the trunk of their car while driving.

The Ohio Cannabis Coalition opposes the potential referendum.

“SB 56 upholds the will of Ohio voters by maintaining a safe and regulated adult cannabis market while closing dangerous loopholes that allowed untested intoxicating hemp products and out-of-state marijuana to cross Ohio’s shelves,” said OHCANN Executive Director David Bowling.

Ohio marijuana customers won’t notice any changes under the new law, said Pete Nischt, vice president of compliance and communications for Klutch Cannabis, which has dispensaries in Northeast Ohio.

“The person entering the legal marijuana market in Ohio will see no difference after the effective date of (SB 56),” he said.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the group behind Issue 2 on the 2023 ballot, also opposes the referendum attempt.

“SB 56 is a sensible improvement on Issue 2,” the coalition said in a statement. “SB 56 honors the will of Ohio voters while protecting public health. The referendum effort is about putting profits from unregulated hemp and gas station weed sales over people.”

Wesley Bryant, owner of 420 Craft Beverage in Cleveland, supports the referendum effort, calling the legislation “an assault on consumer rights.”

“Ohioans are buying these products because they relieve stress, help people sleep at night, provide relief to veterans with PTSD and help some people with addiction,” Bryant said in a statement. “SB 56 is evil and full of unintended consequences, and we will give voters the opportunity to say no to this harmful legislation.”

Joey Ellwood, a Tuscarawas County hemp farmer, called the law a government overreach.

“The people spoke in 2023 when they voted to legalize cannabis, and we’ll let them speak again in November by voting no on SB 56,” Ellwood said in a statement.

Cannabis Choice for Ohioans must collect 6 percent of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election (248,092) to get on the Nov. 3 ballot. The group will also need 3 percent of the participation of the governors of 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

Organizers will have 90 days from the date the governor submitted the bill to the secretary of state to collect the necessary signatures.

The last referendum passed in Ohio was in 2011 when voters overturned a law against collective bargaining.

This story was first published by the Ohio Capital Journal.

Marihuana Moment is made possible with the help of readers. If you rely on our pro-cannabis journalism to stay informed, consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Cannabis News

State hemp license applications end April 30

Published

6 hours ago

on

April 19, 2026

By











Those wishing to grow and process hemp this year must apply for a license from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) by April 30. Each license is valid until December 31 of the year it is issued. Graduates must reapply annually to continue in the program. An MDA license is required for individuals and businesses.

So far, about 30 people have applied for the 2026 MDA license, compared to 84 applicants last year.

These licenses are for the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp only. The hemp license application is not for adult use or for growing or selling medical cannabis. The application is also not intended for the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Information on adult use and medical cannabis is available Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) website.

There are applications of industrial hemp MDA website. Along with the online form, first-time applicants and authorized representatives must submit fingerprints and pass a criminal background check.

There are also several updates for the 2026 season. The extraction of cannabinoids from hemp is now regulated by the OCM, meaning that anyone interested in this type of processing will need a separate licence. The rates have also changed. The base cost of a hemp license is now $400, with an additional $250 per growing or processing location. The previous $250 processor license fee has been removed, but a 5% surcharge now applies to upgrades to MDA’s technology systems.

All authorized representatives listed on an application must pass a background check before being licensed. In addition, each lot of hemp must undergo THC testing before harvest, and each official sample collected by the MDA costs $100.

Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture










Continue Reading

Cannabis News

Colorado Marijuana Officials Announce Crackdown On Sales Of Hemp Products Amid ‘Risks To Public Safety’

Published

6 hours ago

on

April 18, 2026

By

These issues “pose serious risks to public safety, market integrity, and the tax revenue framework that supports Colorado’s regulated cannabis industry.”

By Christopher Osher, ProPublica and Evan Wyloge, The Denver Gazette

This story was originally published by ProPublica.

Colorado regulators announced Monday that they plan to crack down on companies that sell cheaper, potentially dangerous, illegal hemp products as marijuana.

The state’s Division of Marijuana Enforcement said it had identified “compliance issues” that threaten to dismantle the marijuana industry in the nation’s first legal retail market.

These problems “pose serious risks to public safety, market integrity and the tax revenue framework that supports Colorado’s regulated cannabis industry,” the agency said in an industry newsletter.

An investigation by the Denver Gazette and ProPublica in January reported that despite Colorado being one of the first states to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products, the legislature and regulators. he failed adopting many of the rules that other states have used to keep hemp products off the medical marijuana shelves.

Creating evaporative and edible liquid distillate from hemp is much cheaper than using marijuana, giving companies a competitive advantage.

But regulators say they are concerned that manufacturers are relying on toxic and dangerous chemicals to convert the non-toxic CBD compound that is predominant in hemp into THC, the psychoactive compound that makes people feel high. Regulators have banned this chemical synthesis, saying they fear chemical residues could remain in the finished product, putting consumers at risk.

Colorado manufacturers have taken advantage of loopholes in the state’s testing and enforcement system to continue using hemp to make products marketed as marijuana, even though doing so is against state law, according to regulatory studies, previous agency bulletins and testimony and lab results contained in several lawsuits.

In 2024, state investigators found that a popular brand of marijuana sold at dispensaries was not only derived from hemp, but also contaminated with methylene chloride, the chemical often used to convert CBD from hemp into THC. Marijuana is banned by Colorado regulators and banned for most uses by the US Environmental Protection Agency because it can cause liver and lung cancer and damage the nervous, immune and reproductive systems.

Ware House, the company that manufactured these vaporizers, relinquished its marijuana license in response to the investigation. Ware Hause’s owner, Thanh Hau, and the company’s lawyer declined to comment.

Congress passed a law last November that bans nearly all hemp products nationwide starting this fall, but it’s unclear how the government will enforce the ban, and hemp growers are reeling.

In December, President Donald Trump issued an executive order telling his aides to work with Congress to develop rules that could allow certain hemp products.

The Colorado Division of Marijuana Enforcement made the announcement Monday newsletter agency officials stated that they “identified and investigated evidence” that marijuana companies are using illegal practices and prohibited methods to manufacture products, instead of relying on marijuana, which is supposed to be monitored for safety.

The Colorado Hemp Association and the Colorado Hemp Education Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Beyond safety concerns, the bulletin also noted that some marijuana manufacturers and growers are avoiding marijuana tax obligations through “a pattern of non-compliance” in sales operations they report to the state’s “seed-to-sale” tracking system, which tracks marijuana from the initial planting to the sale of flower, vapes and other products at dispensaries.

Companies misrepresent marijuana sales at nominal prices, in some cases as low as $1 per pound for unprocessed marijuana material, the newsletter said. Those products typically fetch more than $600 per pound on the market, depending on the category of marijuana, according to industry experts.

That fraudulent reporting has stolen millions of dollars in marijuana taxes from state and local governments, industry experts say, though no official estimate is available.

The agency said it will follow emergency rules to address these issues. The bulletin emphasized that suspicious and abnormal transactions and inventories detected by the state will prompt investigations. Companies caught using hemp or other illegal material passed off as marijuana face “immediate product embargo, license suspension or revocation, significant fines and law enforcement,” regulators warned.

The Denver Gazette and ProPublica have tried to track the anomalous transactions, but the Division of Marijuana Enforcement’s sales transaction records, even those that do not identify the companies, are not public.

Marijuana industry representatives met with the division’s regulators late last month to push for a more aggressive response to the agency’s hemp replacement, even though it could affect some companies in the industry. The representatives argued that bad actors are unfairly driving down prices and shifting the tax burden to manufacturers and growers who are trying to comply with the rules. The newsletter was released a couple of weeks after that meeting.

“The division is also considering additional changes to its testing and screening protocols” to detect illegal products and prohibited methods, and may require additional laboratory tests “if needed for products throughout the supply chain,” the agency’s bulletin said.

This article was produced in partnership with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network Denver Magazine. Sign up for Submissions to receive stories in your inbox every week.

user photo WeedPornDaily.

Marijuana Moment is made possible with the help of readers. If you rely on our pro-cannabis journalism to stay informed, consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

Continue Reading

Cannabis News

Nascent medical cannabis industry aims for growth

Published

1 day ago

on

April 18, 2026

By











The medicinal cannabis sector is struggling to take root, and another specialist processing plant is set to close. But with current regulations and a new collective industry in mind, New Zealanders are promising to reduce their reliance on imported medicinals.

There was great excitement when medicinal cannabis was legalized and then regulated in 2020, with the hope of growing the domestic sector and serving patients here and abroad. However, since then, several companies have closed their doors, including Greenfern Industries, Cannasouth and, most recently, Helius Therapeutics.

The latter plans to close the East Tāmaki plant, affecting 65 workers. It is one of the few medicinal cannabis factories in the entire nation that has a specialized processing certificate called “Good Manufacturing Practice” (GMP).

Medical Cannabis Council executive director Sally King said that under current rules, most growers did not have such certification, and could only sell raw ingredients, not processed products such as more profitable cannabis capsules.

Read more at the town










Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending

Copyright © 2021 The Art of MaryJane Media