Ohio GOP lawmaker’s bill would upend voter-approved adult-use marijuana

A Republican lawmaker in Ohio has introduced a bill that would raise adult-use marijuana sales taxes, limit home grows and prohibit social equity licenses and job programs.

Senate Bill 56, introduced by Republican Sen. Steve Huffman, would increase the sales tax from 10% to 15% and cap the number of cannabis stores in the state at 350, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

The proposal, which also includes decreasing THC potency caps from 90% to 70% and home-grown plants from 12 to six, is a deviation from the will of voters, who overwhelmingly approved legalizing the cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana in a November 2023 ballot measure.

Leading up to that vote, lawmakers in the state’s Republican-dominated General Assembly vowed to make changes to the legislation but couldn’t find common ground.

The referendum required regulators to issue licenses by Sept. 7 to converted medical marijuana businesses.

Though Ohio launched adult-use sales in August without a social equity program, Issue 2 also mandated that a portion of cannabis tax revenue be used to create opportunities for disenfranchised applicants.

Meanwhile, Ohio’s recreational marijuana market is already showing signs of price contraction, only five months after sales began, according to an MJBizDaily analysis this week.