Some hemp businesses that have been fighting the state of Ohio over tougher marijuana regulations passed after voters legalized marijuana in 2023 says there’s a double standard in place. They say their businesses are being targeted while dispensaries backed by publicly traded corporations, which they call “Big Marijuana”, are operating under different rules – though both industries are dealing with the same plant.
Wesley Bryant runs a craft beverages distribution and hemp manufacturing company. He said some hemp businesses did an investigation and found the state is using rules created in Senate Bill 56 to go after them, but that marijuana dispensaries are allowed to sell products with higher concentrations of THC, as approved by voters in 2023’s Issue 2.
"Ohio has created two different standards—one standard for big marijuana and the other standard for Ohio's hemp industry and its consumers," said Bryant. “I don't accept the idea that one group of businesses gets the full weight of the government brought down on them, while the other group gets a different standard. I don't accept that, and neither should any small business owner in Ohio.”
He added: "What Senate Bill 56 was did was strip my ability to do that and push all of our products into the medical recreational dispensaries, therefore putting me out of business and not opening licenses. And the cost to actually enter into one of those businesses via licenses is unattainable for most."
A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Commerce, which oversees the Division of Cannabis Control, wrote in a statement that Issue 2 didn’t legalize intoxicating hemp, so the agency’s role is only on marijuana regulation.
"It’s important to note that the Division of Cannabis Control is simply enacting the initiated statute that was approved by voters in 2023, which included a very strict regulatory system for marijuana in Ohio," said the agency in the statement. "The initiated statute did not include any provisions governing hemp and therefore the Division’s role is confined to marijuana regulation. Some parties claim Ohio voters approved all THC including intoxicating hemp when the initiated statue was passed, but that is simply not true."
The agency also noted that the law "authorizes the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) to modify those potency limits for all cannabis products that are not plant material."
Bryant said his hemp manufacturing company is regulated by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, but said the Ohio Investigative Unit enforces laws for both industries.
