Ohio recreational marijuana overhaul would raise excise tax, limit dispensaries

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Legislators are advancing a bill to overhaul Ohio’s recreational marijuana law, including raising the excise tax, limiting the number of dispensaries that can open in the state, and reducing the number of cannabis plants that can be grown at home.

Senate Bill 56 received a second hearing on Tuesday in the Senate General Government Committee. The legislation would increase the excise tax on adult-use cannabis from 10% to 15% and redirect revenue to the state’s general fund, while current law funnels that money to support municipalities with dispensaries and a social equity and jobs program. Watch a previous NBC4 report on S.B. 56 in the video player above.

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Mirroring a proposal that failed to pass last year in the wake of Issue 2’s passage, S.B. 56 was introduced by Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) in January and would enact several dozen new regulations, including the following:

• Limit the number of dispensaries in Ohio to 350, and merge medical and recreational marijuana programs under the Division of Cannabis Control. Currently, 128 dispensaries are in operation.
• Reduce the maximum number of plants that Ohioans can grow at home from 12 to six.
• Dilute the concentration of THC products from 90% to 70%.
• Reinforce current Ohio law prohibiting marijuana smoking in public by permitting Ohioans to partake only in private residences.
• Eliminate the social equity and jobs program, designed to promote diversity in the cannabis industry and support Ohioans who may have been penalized before recreational marijuana was legalized.
• Prohibits an Ohioan from receiving unemployment benefits if they are fired for using cannabis.

“Many of the provisions in the bill may look familiar, as they largely reflect what the Senate passed in last general assembly,” said Huffman during the bill’s first hearing on Jan. 29. “This bill is about government efficiency, consumer and child safety, and maintaining access to voter-approved adult-use marijuana.”

More than three dozen opponents submitted testimony for the bill’s second hearing on Tuesday, including Tim Johnson, a retired law enforcement officer who founded an organization called Cannabis Safety First. Johnson argues S.B. 56 “presents as a bill to enhance criminal penalties rather than to support the potential of a vibrant and sustainable new industry.”

“S.B. 56’s tax proposal will only end in consumers and patients returning to the illicit market, back to personal cultivation and driving to border states to purchase products and eventually collapsing the Ohio industry licensees,” wrote Johnson.

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John Kobel, a representative of the Ohio Cannabis Company who operates three dispensaries, also submitted testimony against Huffman’s bill. Kobel echoed Johnson’s argument that increasing prices would drive consumers toward unregulated markets, and said reducing THC limits to 70% would put Ohio at a disadvantage compared to Michigan.

“These changes do nothing to improve public safety but will drive up costs, reduce efficiency,
and negatively impact businesses and patients alike,” Kobel said. “Ohio’s cannabis industry has created jobs, generated tax revenue, and built a safe, regulated market. S.B. 56 threatens that progress. I urge the committee to oppose this bill.”

Sharon Madger, an Ohio resident who noted she voted against Issue 2, was the singular proponent to submit testimony in favor of the proposal. Madger argued that “anything that can limit the use of recreational cannabis would be better than nothing,” and said she “would opt to have this removed from the Ohio Constitution if that would be possible.”