Ohio House members held a second committee hearing to hear additional testimony on a bill that would revise the newly passed marijuana legalization legislation in the state. The hearing was held ahead of a vote expected on Wednesday.
The House Finance Committee, which met last week to receive input from Rep. Jamie Callender’s (R) on the proposed legislation, met again Tuesday to listen to additional stakeholders and advocates as Senate Republicans continue to work on a separate revision package. This has sparked significant opposition.
Reform supporters prefer the House bill because it makes fewer changes than the Senate bill, which originally called for home cultivation to be eliminated and basic legalization provisions to be delayed indefinitely. The Senate legislation was altered significantly last week after criticism, but still faces significant opposition.
Senate President Matt Huffman’s (R) original timeline had him passing the bill as an emergency before legalization took effect last week. However, that did not happen. House Speaker Jason Stephens, meanwhile (R), has said that he does not see the urgency to amend the initiated statute as sales will not begin until 2024.
Both the Senate and House leaders of the Republican Party have expressed disagreements on some procedural questions related to amending marijuana laws, such as timelines for enactment. However, they both support the idea of making certain changes, such as revising tax structures, preventing public use and discouraging impaired driving.
On Tuesday, the House Finance Committee heard additional public testimony from concerned parties. These included those who were concerned about the continued criminalization by the bill of adult marijuana sharing and the redirection tax revenue from equity to law enforcement.
In testimony before the committee, Cat Packer, vice-chair of Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition and director of Drug Markets and Legal Regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance, expressed her concern that the proposed reforms would move us from a puff-puff pass to a puff-puff police, which is totally in contradiction with what Ohio voters voted for.
Tim Johnson, of Cannabis Safety First, insisted that legislators include explicit protections for marijuana users or risk the people continuing to purchase cannabis from an unregulated market.
“It all comes down to this principle: we don’t ask for your permission in order to consume or manufacture cannabis. He said that they have been doing it in Ohio without permission for more than 50 years. “We have been doing this for 50 years. It’s a $4 billion dollar industry that is unregulated and taxed in Ohio.”
He said: “I ask that you stop criminalizing Ohio’s cannabis community, the entire cannabis industry in Ohio – from the patients to the consumers to the license holders.” “Allow us the opportunity to be part of your normal society and community. Taxpayers are welcome to join us. “Allow us to be productive citizens of society.”
On Wednesday, the panel will meet again. Members are expected to vote to send the legislation up for consideration. The House Speaker has stated that the entire chamber will not vote on Callender’s proposal on Tuesday, nor will they concur on the separate cannabis legislation passed by the Senate.
The Senate proposal follows a different path. The Senate proposal was attached to a noncontroversial bill passed by the House before it was amended and approved on the Senate General Government Committee, and finally on the Senate floor.
The Senate plan is more concerning to reform advocates. Although it has been significantly modified from its original version in committee – restoring home cultivation for example – reform advocates say that it still undermines voters’ will who approved the legalization initiative last month.
Mike DeWine (R) has insisted that voters only support the fundamental principle of legalizing marijuana, arguing that they didn’t understand some provisions. Mike DeWine, (R), has insisted that voters only support the principle of legalizing cannabis and not necessarily specific policies such as tax revenues.
“I don’t think people voted for this situation if it’s not changed.” DeWine stated that Monday that although it is legal to possess marijuana and use it, you cannot buy it. He expressed support for a Senate bill which would allow adults to purchase cannabis at existing medical dispensaries within three months rather than waiting for retailers to open in the second half of next year.
This is how the House Bill from Callender, (HB 354) would change Ohio’s cannabis law:
- Keep the home-grown option up to six plants for each adult and twelve plants per household.
- Interdiction of sharing marijuana among adults. This includes giving away homegrown cannabis.
- The bill would also impose an additional 10 percent tax to gross receipts of marijuana cultivators, in addition to the 10 percent original excise tax.
- The revenue from the cultivator taxes would be used to create and renovate jails (36%), hire county sheriffs for areas that have at least one cultivator (36%), provide law enforcement training (23%), and fund assistance to crime victims (5%).
- Redirect the tax revenue generated by social equity programs into counties to fund equity grants, a job placement program and “anything else that involves community engagement or economic development.”
- The remaining 36 percent will go to local governments that have cannabis shops. Another 12.5 percent will support the 988 crisis and suicide lifeline. 10 percent will fund mental health treatments in county jails. Three percent is for administrative costs to regulate the cannabis market.
- Adverts for tobacco products and alcohol should be restricted.
This is what the Senate’s revised measure, (HB 86), would do to the state marijuana law:
- Limit the number of plants grown by adults to six, but only six per household instead of 12.
- Legalize only the possession of marijuana purchased from retailers or products grown at home.
- Allow existing medical cannabis dispensaries that are already in operation to begin serving adult users within 90 days after the enactment of Issue 2, rather than nine months as per Issue 2’s provisions.
- Interdiction of sharing marijuana among adults
- Require that the state attorney-general create a system to reimburse individuals for the costs associated with actively petitioning the courts for expungements for prior convictions for possession of up to 2,5 ounces cannabis.
- Remove the social equity revenue funds and redirect significant revenue to law enforcement training.
- Raising the marijuana excise to 15% (up from 10%) and allowing local governments to levie an additional tax up to 3 percent.
- Spend $15 million of marijuana tax revenues each year to facilitate expungements.
- The remaining revenue would be used to fund a Department of Public Safety training program for law enforcement (16%), an Attorney General’s Office law enforcement training fund (14%), a drug law enforcement fund (5%) and a poison control fund (2%) as well as substance abuse treatment (9%) and suicide hotline services (9%) and jail construction and renovation (28%) and safe driver training (5%) among others.
- Reducing the THC limit on marijuana extracts for adult use to 50%, instead of 90 percent as per Issue 2.
- Reduced canopy restrictions on cultivation facilities
- Removing anti-discrimination clauses regarding cannabis consumer rights and eligibility for transplants.
- Mandate strict regulations on the transport and storage of cannabis.
- Passengers who smoke marijuana in the car will be sentenced to a minimum of three days imprisonment.
Here’s the difference between Issue 2 and what it would achieve if passed by the voters:
- Possession of up to 25 ounces cannabis by adults over 21 years old, along with up to 15 grams marijuana concentrates.
- You can grow up to six plants at home for your own personal use.
- The 10 percent tax on cannabis sales would be used to fund social equity and job programs (36%), localities who allow adult-use marijuana businesses to operate within their jurisdiction (36%), education and drug misuse programs (25%), and administrative costs associated with implementing the new system (3%).
- Create a Division of Cannabis Control within the Department of Commerce. The division would be able to “license and regulate adult-use cannabis operators, adult-use testing laboratories and individuals who are required to have a license, as well as investigate and penalize them.”
- Give existing medical cannabis businesses an early start on the recreational market. Within nine months after the law’s enactment, regulators would have to start issuing adult use licenses to applicants who are qualified and operate medical operations.
- The division will also have to issue 50 adult-use retail licenses, and 40 recreational cultivator licences. This is “with preference given to applicants who are participating in the cannabis social equality and jobs program.” It would also authorize regulators to grant additional licenses for recreational markets two years after first approval.
- Municipalities could opt not to allow new recreational cannabis businesses to open in their region, but existing medical marijuana companies would still be allowed to operate, even if adult-use operations were to be added. Employers can also enforce policies that prohibit workers from using cannabis for adult purposes.
- Require regulators “to enter into an agreement with Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services”, to provide “cannabis-addiction services,” including “education and treatment of individuals with addiction issues relating to cannabis or controlled substances, including opioids.”
- This measure contains a provision that requires regulators to “study and finance” criminal justice reform initiatives, including expungements.
Karen O’Keefe of the Marijuana Policy Project, the director of state policy, said Tuesday in a written testimony before a House panel that the Senate had backed down from some of its most outrageous proposals, such as recriminalizing home cultivation, reducing possession limitations, and adding two positive changes – expungement and early sales. “HB 86 contains a number of unreasonable provisions which the House should reject.”
Some Democratic lawmakers have said they are open to revisions such as allocating certain cannabis tax revenues towards K-12 education. However, supporters of the legalization initiative that was approved by the majority of voters do not want legislators to undermine the will that the majority of voters expressed.
Ohio Rep. Juanita Brent, (D), recently stressed that those who have been criminalized for marijuana, and those with industry expertise , should be included in any efforts to amend Ohio’s voter approved legalization law. She argued that it shouldn’t just be up to the “anti-cannabis’ legislators to revise this statute.
Rep. Gary Click filed legislation this month to allow local municipalities to ban the use of and home cultivation cannabis within their jurisdictions. It would also revise distribution of state marijuana tax revenues by, for instance, shifting funds from social equity programs and jobs 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 Ohio Department of Commerce published a FAQ guide to inform residents about the new law, including the timeline for its implementation. Regulators have repeatedly stated that policies could change depending on the actions of the legislature.
The prohibitionist organizations who campaigned against Issue 2 are now determined to undermine the newly passed law. Some have even described plans to pressurize the legislature into repealing legalization completely before it is implemented.
In September, several Ohio legislators said that they did not believe the legislature would repeal a legalization law passed by voters. The Senate President confirmed that repeal was not on the agenda for the next year.
The issue was only decided by the voters after the lawmakers refused to use the opportunity of passing their own reform during the ballot qualification procedure. The legislature had months to pass a legalization they could have tailored to address any outstanding concerns. However, the legislature deferred this decision to the voters.
The GOP-controlled Senate, which was responsible for the early voting that began in October, passed a Resolution encouraging residents to reject Measure.
Rep. Dave Joyce, the co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus said in September he’d vote in favor of this initiative in November. He encouraged “all Ohio citizens to take part and have their voices heard about this important issue.”
Sherrod Brown, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee (D-OH), said that he voted for the ballot initiative in late October. He called it a hard decision but based on the belief that this reform would promote “safety” for consumers.
Vivek RAMASWAMY, a Republican presidential candidate for 2024, has said that he voted against the ballot initiative to legalize cannabis in Ohio, because he is concerned the federal government will “weaponize criminalization” against people who engage in state-legal marijuana activities under the “fake pretense” that they are protected from federal prosecution.
Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (DNY) said that Ohio’s decision to legalize cannabis at the ballot was just one of many recent examples of Americans rejecting “MAGA extremeism.” He added that he is committed to working on a bipartisan level “to continue moving forward on bipartisan marijuana legislation as soon we can.”
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-OR, co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus told Marijuana Moment that “the Ohio vote was a big exclamation mark on the things we have been talking about.”
We’ve been saying this for years, that the issue is gaining momentum and that it’s inclusive. He said that it was similar to the success of the [Ohio] abortion rights issue, except this was more pronounced. “We received more votes than abortion.” “We get more votes than anyone on the ballot.”
The White House said separately that “nothing has really changed” with regards to President Joe Biden’s position on marijuana. They declined to state if they supported Ohio’s decision to legalize the drug or if they supported further reforms of federal cannabis laws.
According to preliminary results of county elections, while Ohio voters approved the statewide legalization of marijuana, activists scored a number of small victories to criminalize higher amounts of cannabis in 3 Ohio cities.
Missouri expunges 100,000 cannabis offenses in first year of legalization, even as some courts miss deadline
Photo by Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
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