Proposed marijuana, hemp law referendum goes up in smoke after Yost snuffs out proposal

Attorney General Dave Yost rejected the referendum summary language to repeal parts of the anti-marijuana bill.

In his Tuesday letter, Yost told Ohioans for Cannabis Choice, a coalition seeking to launch a referendum campaign to block elements of Senate Bill 56, a measure banning intoxicating hemp products and making some changes to the state’s existing marijuana law, from taking effect.

In extinguishing the proposal on Tuesday, Yost said the summary did not accurately reflect the legislation, citing inaccuracies and misleading statements that could confuse potential petition signers.

After receiving a petition on Dec. 29, Yost had 10 business days under state law to determine whether the title and summary were “fair and truthful statements of the measure to be referred.”

“Upon review of the summary, we identified omissions and misstatements that, as a whole, would mislead a potential signer as to the scope and effect of S.B. 56,” he wrote.

Yost wrote in the letter that the summary is confusing because it includes two similar descriptions of the law’s definition of hemp, as well as misstates what kind of control Ohio has over the delivery of marijuana from a dispensary to an adult consumer.

Additionally, he said the text is misleading because it states that all felony offenses disqualify individuals from obtaining a cannabis-related license, a provision Republican Gov. Mike DeWine removed from the final version of the bill.

According to Yost, the summary is also deceptive because it says that the bill repealed a ban on license holders offering gifts, samples, or other free or discounted adult-use marijuana products, when in reality, the bill would force the Division of Cannabis Control to establish standards.

He also said the summary is misleading because it states that the bill allows local authorities to limit the rights of license holders and restrict activities permitted under Ohio’s marijuana control laws.

He added that the summary also lies about local governments being able to levy an excise tax on retail sales of adult-use marijuana when the bill explicitly prohibits it.

The group whose summary was rejected responded to Yost’s letter, stating that the ruling is “just a speed bump in the process,” according to Cleveland.com.

“We are going to fix the language, collect an additional 1,000 signatures, and not slow down,” Dennis Willard, spokesperson for Ohioans for Cannabis Choice, told Cleveland.com, adding that Ohioans will have a chance to reject the bill that defies their alleged desire to keep the pro-marijuana laws this November.

The news came after DeWine signed the bill last month, prompting pro-marijuana advocates to push back.

“Ohioans oppose re-criminalizing cannabis, for example, making it a crime to grow more than six plants, a crime to have unauthorized paraphernalia, and a crime to buy marijuana in Michigan and bring it home,” Joey Ellwood, a Tuscarawas County hemp farmer, said in a statement that Ohioans for Cannabis Choice issued last month. “And this is just the start. Politicians in Columbus won’t stop until marijuana and hemp are completely illegal in Ohio again.”