Marijuana businesses accused of violating Marijuana rules ahead of Recreational sales
Ohio Cannabis Industry Faces Penalties for Premature Marketing Ahead of Legal Recreational Sales
Yes we cannabis? In the weeks leading up to the first day of recreational marijuana sales, five licensees were fined for violating Ohio’s fairly strict marijuana advertising and marketing rules, which state – among other requirements – that the Division of Cannabis Control must preapprove all emails, website content, and other materials before it can be displayed. The state fined the business $212,500 for violations large and small, such as parking an ice cream truck beside a dispensary to accidentally communicating that a business was allowed to sell recreational marijuana, weeks before the actual OK was given, Laura Hancock reports.
Family tradition: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno is trying to relaunch his family’s car-sales business as he runs for the U.S. Senate. Andrew Tobias writes that property records show a Moreno-connected business spent $9.5 million to buy plot of land near an outlet mall in Delaware County off Interstate 71 and took out a mortgage through Mercedes-Benz around the same time. A campaign spokesperson said Moreno is setting up the business for his 26-year-old son to run, and that groundbreaking isn’t scheduled until around the time of the November election. Details of the project were contained in a mandatory financial disclosure Moreno and his opponent in the November election, Sen. Sherrod Brown, filed earlier this month. The disclosure otherwise shows a sharp financial contrast between Moreno, worth tens of millions of dollars, and Brown, who’s net worth is as high as $660,000.
Lock up: The U.S. Department of Justice told a federal appeals court that the prosecutors got it right: Larry Householder took millions of bribes from FirstEnergy before doing its bidding as House Speaker. As Jake Zuckerman reports, they dismissed many of Householder’s legal arguments and said the trial evidence speaks for itself – including the money that he spent for personal use, which Householder never raised in his own appeal.
Snubbed: The Ohio Republican Party earlier this month endorsed all GOP candidates for federal and state office this year...with the deliberate exception of House Speaker Jason Stephens. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, the snub won’t affect the reelection chances of Stephens, a Lawrence County Republican who’s running unopposed, but it shows how Republicans continue to be upset with him over the way he won the speaker’s gavel last year with the help of Democratic votes.
Property taxes: The recent appraisal that sent Cuyahoga County home values soaring has many property owners worried about paying their upcoming tax bills, but local officials say relief needs to come from the state. Kaitlin Durbin reports that Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, at a news conference Tuesday, joined Democratic State Representatives Bride Rose Sweeney, of Westlake, Sean Patrick Brennan, of Parma, and Phillip M. Robinson, of Solon, in pressuring the Republican-controlled legislature to pass a series of property tax relief bills meant to help residents stay in their homes longer.
Police money: Northeast Ohio police departments are getting grants from the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance that they’ll use to buy new patrol vehicles and hire, train, and retain law enforcement officers, Sabrina Eaton reports. “These awards will allow law enforcement in cities across the region to keep our streets safe, and are a critical investment in safety and resources for the men and women who devote their lives to protecting Ohioans,” said a statement from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Under pressure: In a Monday letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a Champaign County Republican, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote that senior Biden administration officials, including from the White House, “repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,” The Wall Street Journal reports. Zuckerberg said that he believed the pressure from the administration “was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.” The letter also said Zuckerberg believed his company “shouldn’t have demoted” a New York Post story about President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 election. A social media post from Jordan’s committee called the admissions “a big win for free speech.”
Scene of the crime: U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, a South Russell Republican who’s part of a bipartisan task force investigating the July 13 attempt to assassinate ex-President Donald Trump on Monday joined the task force in touring the Butler, Pennsylvania incident site. “I am committed to identifying the security failures and making sure this massive mistake never occurs again,” Joyce said afterwards on Facebook.
Supreme decision: The Dispatch’s Laura Bischoff notes that all the Republicans running for the Ohio Supreme Court this year have been endorsed by Ohio Right to Life. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio have endorsed the three Democrats. The court is expected to decide cases on the limits of Ohio’s newly passed abortion rights amendment.
Smish this: The Ohio Turnpike Commission is warning people of “smishing” (SMS + fishing) scams in which scammers text people saying they have unpaid tolls. The turnpike commission said it would never ask for money over a text message, the Enquirer’s Mariyam Muhammad reports.
Lobbying Lineup
Five organizations that have lobbied on House Bill 300, which would create a pilot program for remote methadone treatment for people with opioid use disorder. The bipartisan bill would allow licensed opioid treatment programs to contract with vendors across the country that offer take-home doses of medication-assisted treatment. The bottles would have to be tamper-proof. The vendors would have to provide audio-visual recordings of the dosing. Many Ohioans live far from a treatment clinic, or clinics are only open during times when they work, the sponsors said.
1. Centene Corp.
2. Ohio Academy of Family Physicians
3. RxGuardian Inc.
4. Sonara Health Inc.
5. Alvis Inc.
On the Move
State Sen. Steve Huffman, a Dayton-area Republican, has been selected to receive a small business award from the NFIB of Ohio, an influential small business organization. Huffman earned a perfect National Federation of Independent Business voting record and was a leader on key small business issues, such as income tax, business grants and health insurance, the organization said.
Straight From The Source
“Mom, no more Pokemon cards. In front of 1,000 people, no more Pokemon cards. The kids have got enough.”
U.S. Sen. JD Vance, discussing how his mother spoils her grandkids at a campaign appearance in Big Rapids, Michigan.
