Cannabis Law & Policy

In December the Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 261, potentially broadening Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program for the first time since implementation in 2018. SB 261 would create the new Division of Marijuana Control (DMC), a division of the Department of Commerce, to oversee and administer the medical marijuana program. Currently, the Department of Commerce, Board of Pharmacy, and Medical [...]

Earlier this month, the Ohio General Assembly passed a bill that could permanently authorize the temporary options permitted during the pandemic for telehealth visits to health care providers, including those who recommend medical marijuana. In addition, the Bill would dramatically expand the state’s medical marijuana program by allowing doctors to recommend cannabis for patients who can “reasonably be expected” to [...]

A new Republican-led cannabis legalization bill is making its way through Congress and is emerging as one of the best chances yet for federal legalization. Representative Nancy Mace’s (R-SC) recently introduced ‘States Reform Act’ would deschedule cannabis federally and establish a new regulatory framework to treat cannabis like alcohol. Other key aspects of the proposal include: A 3.75% excise tax [...]

Recent bills and ballot initiatives suggest that adult-use cannabis may be coming to Ohio in the near future.  However, with the State currently considering two separate paths towards legalization, the key question now seems just as much how as when. The first path contemplates legalization through traditional legislative means, via a bill introduced by Democratic lawmakers in July.  The bill [...]

On January 16, 2019, Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program formally launched with the official opening of the first dispensaries in Wintersville, Canton, and Sandusky. Years in the making, Ohio’s program provides alternative medical treatment to qualifying patients but also raises serious questions for employers on how to deal with employees who qualify for use. Conflicting federal and state laws, as [...]

Ohio lawmakers are set to consider a bill that would legalize adult, or recreational, cannabis use in the Buckeye state. State Representative Casey Weinstein (D) and co-sponsor Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D) announced their intention to introduce the bill late last week. The bill would mark the first time a proposal to allow adult-use cannabis has been introduced in the Ohio [...]

As many are aware, the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp (cannabis with 0.3% THC or less) and hemp-derived products at the federal level by removing such products from the Controlled Substances Act (although individual states remain largely free to implement their own prohibitions). One of the major hemp-derived products in commerce today is CBD, which has achieved remarkable growth in [...]

Ohio has quietly approved three new qualifying conditions allowing patients to obtain medical cannabis in the Buckeye State. In a memo issued two weeks ago, the State Medical Board confirmed that arthritis, chronic migraines, and complex regional pain syndrome were conditions already encompassed by the existing qualification of pain that is either chronic or intractable. The memo has not yet [...]

On April 19, 2021, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously to issue 73 new dispensary licenses, increasing the state’s current total from 57 to 130. The announcement comes in light of strong demand among state residents for product as well as significant growth in patient population since the inception of the state’s program in late 2018. Initially, state officials [...]