Will Ohio lawmakers change anything before new marijuana law goes into effect on Thursday?


Time is dwindling if Ohio lawmakers are going to make any changes to recreational marijuana, which becomes legal in Ohio after midnight Thursday.

Lawmakers in the Ohio House and Senate have dueling bills on whether Ohioans can grow marijuana at home, how much THC is permitted in products and how high taxes will be.

The proposed changes come a month after Ohio voters legalized marijuana, 57-43%, and became the 24th state to do so.

Negotiations are playing out amid an internal fight over who will lead the Ohio House of Representatives next. And many lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives are in no rush to pass anything.

“I don’t think we’re going to see anything agreed to by the two chambers today,” said Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, who introduced House Bill 354 to preserve home grow and THC levels approved by voters while increasing the tax rate and changing where some of that tax money goes. “I think it’s important as public officials that we listen to what the voters said.”

Meanwhile, lawmakers in the Ohio Senate are poised to vote on changes to Ohio’s new marijuana law on Wednesday. But it’s not clear what those changes will be. Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told Ohio Public Radio that there wouldn’t be a total ban on growing marijuana at home, a spokesman confirmed − after the Senate initially proposed that moratorium.

The Senate’s proposed changes aren’t popular − even among senators. Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, said he wouldn’t vote for the current version because of its high tax rate (15% on sales, 15% on cultivators in addition to sales taxes.) Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, said no Democrat would support a bill that eliminates growing marijuana at home.

This story will be updated.

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Marijuana is legal in Ohio Thursday. Will lawmakers change anything?

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