Ohio’s voter-approved marijuana legalization initiative took effect on Thursday, and despite ongoing wrangling by state lawmakers to modify significant portions of the law, some provisions–including legal use, possession and home cultivation of cannabis–have immediate impacts.
voters approved Issue 2 of the legalization ballot by a margin of 57-42 in last month. Republicans in the state Senate announced their intention to gut the law by eliminating home grows, reducing the legal possession limit and the allowable THC, increasing sales tax, criminalizing marijuana possession and use outside of licensed retailers, and shifting funding from social equity programs to law enforcement. The overhaul was deemed by stakeholders to be a devastation of the market. ACLU of Ohio called the measure ” destruction of Issue 2.”
On Wednesday, however the GOP-controlled Senate reversed its course and instead the entire chamber passed a revised law that would in some ways expand the voter approved law . The bill would, among other things, allow adults over 21 to purchase cannabis at existing medical dispensaries within 90 days. It would also maintain the right to grow marijuana at home and automatically expunge prior convictions.
A new measure was introduced in the House. No matter how the changes are implemented, certain reforms were already in place with the introduction of Issue 2 on Thursday. Here’s an overview of what is new and what will be coming in the next few months.
Is marijuana legal now in Ohio?
State law now allows adults over 21 to possess and use cannabis. The commercial activity, which includes consumer purchases at licensed retailers, will not begin until next year. The speed of the transition depends on how legislators handle changes to the system approved by voters.
Adults are allowed to possess upto 2.5 ounces cannabis and 15 grams marijuana concentrates.
What is the current status of home cultivation in Australia?
In Ohio, it is legal to grow marijuana in your home. Issue 2, as approved by the voters, allows adults 21 years and older to have up to six plants per adult. There is a maximum of 12 plants per household. Senate passed bill that would limit the number of plants per household to six, no matter how many adults reside in the house. However, this proposal has not yet become law.
According to current law, cultivation is only allowed in a “secured closet, room or greenhouse” or any other enclosed space on or near the property of a residence, which prevents entry by anyone under the age of 21. It also must not be visible from public spaces.
When will the recreational cannabis sales start?
In as little as three month, adults could buy marijuana at existing medical dispensaries under the Senate-approved amendment to Issue 2. This would enable legal sales earlier than the current plan for Issue 2.
If the voters approve, medical marijuana businesses will get an early start in the market. Regulators must begin issuing licenses for adult use within nine months after enactment. Regulators would need to first go through the rulemaking and licensing processes for adult-use business before they could license dedicated adult-use retail stores. In the past, it can take several months or years for new states to open stores and begin selling.
How can consumers obtain marijuana legally?
The sale of marijuana is illegal until a regulated market has been established. At that point, only licensed operators can legally sell the drug. In the meantime, users will have to either grow their own marijuana or share without paying, which is now legal among adults over 21 in Ohio. Transfers between adults that are not commercially oriented are limited to 2.5 ounces flower and 15 grams concentrate.
The Senate’s bill, which was passed, includes a prohibition on the sharing of home-grown marijuana between adults.
Can I make a concentrate for my own use?
It depends. Individuals are not allowed to use hydrocarbon-based extraction methods, like butane. Issue 2 allows for the legal production of other forms of extraction, such as tinctures, hash and other concentrates.
In Issue 2, extracts are defined as substances that can be obtained “by physically or chemically separating or concentrating cannabinoids or other compounds” by cannabis.
What comes next?
A Division of Cannabis Control, under current law will be created within the Department of Commerce of the state. The Division of Cannabis Control will be responsible for “licensing, regulating, investigating, and penalizing adult-use cannabis operators, adult-use testing laboratories, as well as individuals who are required to have a license.”
The division must issue 40 licenses to recreational cultivators and 50 licenses to adult-use retailers, “with preference given to applicants who participate in the cannabis social equality and jobs program.” Additional licenses can be issued for the recreational market after two years.
The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services must also enter into an agreement to provide “cannabis-addiction services” which include “education and treatment of individuals with addiction issues relating to cannabis or controlled substances, including opioids.”
Can past cannabis convictions ever be expunged from the record?
It’s not clear how it will happen, but there are ways to make it happen. Issue 2, as it was passed by the voters, caused some concern because of its lack of specificity on automatic expungements. This would clear records for people convicted of crimes that were made legal under this legislation. The law includes a provision that requires regulators to study and fund criminal justice reform initiatives including expungements.
The Senate bill, passed on Wednesday, provides for the automatic expungement of certain previous cannabis-related convictions. This reform was strongly supported by supporters, but it wasn’t included in Issue 2, largely due to the single-subject restrictions for ballot measures.
What other changes are still possible?
Lots. Ohio lawmakers, despite seeming to be more in line with the general desire of voters to legalize marijuana than they were a week earlier, are still mulling over sweeping changes for the details of the system. The issues include the cap on legal retailers, THC levels for concentrates and flower, and tax rates.
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The House only needs to approve the measure because the Senate’s changes to the current marijuana law are attached to an uncontroversial measure passed by the House on alcohol regulations. This is not likely to happen, according to the expedited schedule that Senate President Matt Huffman has stated he wants.
The House is also looking at another marijuana legalization proposal submitted by Rep. Jamie Callender. In a Wednesday hearing, the House Finance Committee discussed that legislation. It would preserve home-grow and other key elements of the voter’s initiative while making changes opposed by supporters.
Rep. Gary Click filed separate legislation last week which would permit individual municipalities to ban the use of cannabis and home cultivation within their jurisdictions. It would also revise distribution of state marijuana tax revenues by, for instance, reducing funding allocated to social equality and jobs programs, and redirecting them instead to law enforcement training.
Rep. Cindy Abrams, (R), also introduced a Bill last month to revise marijuana law. 40 million dollars in cannabis tax money would be used annually for law enforcement training.
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The post Marijuana is Now Legal in Ohio as Voter-Approved Legislation Takes Effect first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
