Sandusky County judge temporarily blocks Ohio’s recent hemp ban in one city

A Sandusky County judge has temporarily blocked Ohio’s new law banning intoxicating hemp products in the city of Fremont.

While the city’s economy is not completely dependent on the product, a second small town in Ohio whose entire economy revolves around selling hemp products won’t be affected by this temporary ban.

The Ohio Capital Journal reported that the temporary block could have wide-ranging impacts across the rest of the state. The news source reported that Judge Jeremiah S. Ray has issued a temporary restraining order on the hemp portion of Senate Bill 56, which Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed in December 2025 and takes effect in November, that restricts marijuana usage and bans low-level THC hemp products in the state.

“This is thus inherently discriminatory on its face,” Ray wrote in his decision that was obtained by the Journal after Seattle-based North Fork Distribution, which runs Cycling Frog Distribution, sued the Fremont Police chief and a detective to prevent them from enforcing the law.

“The fact that Senate Bill 56 also has the practical effect of discriminating against thousands of in-state hemp and hemp-beverage manufacturers, producers, distributors, or retailers is no defense,” Ray wrote. “If anything, the existence of parallel intrastate discrimination ‘makes the protectionist effect of the ordinance more acute.’”

Legal experts, including Case Western Reserve University constitutional law professor Jonathan Entin, who discussed the issue with The Journal, are currently evaluating whether this means Cycling Frog can continue selling its product throughout Ohio, since the manufacturer is currently exempt from complying with the law.

“The states can’t pass laws that interfere with or discriminate against interstate commerce,” Entin said, per the Journal.

The Journal reported that the recent decision could eventually affect the entire state.

One town that might struggle with a ban is Wintersville, which borders Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It used to be a mill town that had been slowly dying as people moved to other parts of the state. However, it recently reinvented itself as a haven for those who like marijuana and hemp products.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, people from Pennsylvania and West Virginia have been visiting Wintersville to stock up on hemp products like gummies, vapes, tinctures, and topicals.

Wintersville has fewer than 3,700 residents and only two marijuana dispensaries. However, it still sells more marijuana than Cleveland, which has 100 times the population, and Akron, which is approximately 50 times the size of Wintersville, according to The Dispatch.

Wintersville’s recreational marijuana tax revenue has totaled about $1 million since August 2024, meaning the state will lose similar amounts of money it gets from the town in the future. The town itself would probably not survive, since its economy revolves around a product that would either be restricted or banned in the state.