DeWine’s intoxicating hemp order draws lawsuit

Members of a group that advocates for “health-conscious alternatives instead of pharmaceuticals” are suing over Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s executive order banning “intoxicating hemp.”

In a Wednesday media briefing, DeWine said he signed an executive order banning hemp products with high levels of THC, starting on Tuesday, Oct. 14. The products, the governor said, are unregulated, untested and packaged to mimic candy, which he said is a clear sign they are intended to target children.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Titan Logistics Group, Fumee Smoke & Vape, and Invicta Nutraceuticals, members of the Ohio Healthy Alternatives Association, filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

“Governor DeWine’s actions are a clear usurpation of the Legislature’s power,” they said in the complaint, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. “The public interest will be served by preventing a sitting governor from taking unilateral, unlawful action anytime the Legislature does not timely take action he/she requests.”

They added: “Governor DeWine lacks a basis to use an executive order to regulate all hemp products because there is no evidence hemp products pose an imminent threat to public health.”

The passage of the 2018 federal farm bill included the federal legalization of hemp. In 2019, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 57, legalizing hemp in the Buckeye State.

Unlike marijuana, DeWine, during Wednesday’s briefing, said that hemp has low levels of THC. While hemp and marijuana are both cannabis, federal and state law differentiate hemp and marijuana according to their THC content, with hemp being below 0.3% THC, DeWine said.

A spokesperson for DeWine referred Ohio.News to comments the governor made during his Wednesday briefing, and said the office did not have additional comments on the lawsuit.

During the briefing, DeWine said that Ohio voters approved how they want cannabis sold and where it can be sold in the state when they approved Issue 2, which legalized adult-use cannabis. The governor said that the marketing and retail practices surrounding intoxicating hemp in the Buckeye State conflict with voters’ intent.

The executive order wasn’t exactly met with enthusiasm from Republicans, some of whom indicated the news caught them off guard. Several lawmakers who spoke to Ohio.News said they were caught off guard by the action.

“I trust Ohioans to make their own decisions,” state Representative Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, told Ohio.News. “We don’t need a nanny state making them for us.”

The Ohio Healthy Alternatives Association did not respond to a request from Ohio.News.