AG Yost certifies the title and language of a referendum, allowing pro-marijuana advocates to potentially overturn the Senate bill

Republican Attorney General Dave Yost certified the title and summary language for a referendum proposed by pro-marijuana advocates to repeal Sections 1, 2, and 3 of Senate Bill 56, which would implement changes to the existing marijuana laws.

The advocates resubmitted their referendum petition on Jan. 20, and Yost determined that the petition’s summary and title met the standards of fairness and truthfulness.

“My certification of the title and summary under Section 3519.01(B) should not be construed as an affirmation of the enforceability and constitutionality of the referendum petition,” he wrote in a letter. “My role, as executed here, is limited to determining whether the wording of the title and summary properly advises potential petition signers of a measure’s material components.”

The advocates sent a similar proposal to Yost in 2025, but he rejected it because the summary “did not accurately reflect the legislation.”

According to Yost’s website, petitioners “must gather signatures from registered voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties,” and “in each of those counties, the number of valid signatures must equal at least 3% of the total votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election.” In the entire state, “the total number of valid signatures must equal 6% of that same vote total.”

“Full steam ahead. We’re going to be hitting the streets, collecting signatures all across Ohio because people are angry and want to sign on the line to vote no on SB 56 to stop government overreach, no to closing 6,000 small businesses and killing thousands of jobs, and no to denying consumers the right to purchase products they want,” Dennis Willard, spokesperson for Ohioans for Cannabis Choice, told News Channel 5 in Cleveland.

Ohio Cannabis Coalition Executive Director David Bowling told The Blade that “the referendum campaign is not being driven by licensed cannabis businesses that brought Issue 2 to the ballot in 2023.”

“Instead, the campaign is being funded by intoxicating hemp interests that profit from the spread of misinformation,” he said.

Bowling also said that the hemp industry has been selling “untested, untaxed, and mislabeled” products to people in Ohio, especially children, thus undermining the regulated market.

“This referendum is focused solely on protecting the massive profits of these bad actors and will allow them to continue selling dangerous, unregulated drugs in Ohio,” he said. “S.B. 56 upholds the will of Ohio voters by preserving a safe, regulated adult-use cannabis market while closing dangerous loopholes that allowed untested, intoxicating hemp products and out-of-state marijuana to flood Ohio shelves.”