Long-awaited changes to Ohio’s plant medicine landscape finally take effect this week, impacting businesses, patients and consumers. Because the Ohio Legislature passed Senate Bill 56 (SB 56) late last year, the implementation of these new rules by the administration will begin this Thursday, March 20.
Since the bill’s passage, the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) last week issued new guidance on purchase limits that will change what products you’ll be able to purchase at your favorite dispensary. The news represents a mixed bag of changes. While purchase limits are expanding, Ohioans will also see new potency caps and stricter transport laws. Here’s what you need to know about the new rules:
New Purchase Limits for Edibles
The most impactful change that Ohioans may notice with the new DCC rules is in the total THC per serving and per package in edibles like gummies and chocolates. Adult-use (recreational) consumers will no longer have access to high-dose THC edible options at dispensaries. The new rules limit consumer edibles packages to 110 mg THC total, at a maximum individual dose of 10 mg per serving.
For medical patients who require higher doses and don’t want to have to consume more product to get their desired effect, there is some good news. Individual doses for medical patients’ edibles can be up to 55 mg THC per serving and up to 1500 mg per package, similar to current limits. These edibles will now be reserved only for dispensary customers with an active Ohio MMJ card.
Purchase Limits for Medical Patients Increased
The rules were changed partly to move medical limits in line with non-medical transaction limits. Patients and caregivers still follow the 90-day supply rule designed by the Board of Pharmacy when it administered the program, which is split into two 45-day periods. Medical purchases are still tracked using “whole day units” (like 2.83 grams for flower) to help manage the 90-day recommendation.
Under the new guidelines, patients can buy up to 10 ounces of product per day, with some limitations, or up to 2.5 ounces per day with no limitations. Patients with a terminal illness diagnosis continue to have access to an increased supply (roughly 10% more than the standard medical limit).
Dispensaries no longer have to track recreational sales as “whole day units”. Instead, they track the actual weight of the flower or the milligrams of THC in the product. Non-medical consumers can now buy up to 15,000 mg of total THC in processed forms (edibles, vapes, tinctures) per day and 2.5 ounces (70.75 grams) of cannabis flower (dried plant material). Single Serving Units (or what’s more commonly called a preroll or joint) can contain up to 500mg of THC per serving, with entire packages capped at 1,500mg under the new guidelines.
By law, dispensaries must prioritize medical patients. If a popular strain runs low, the dispensary is required to save inventory for cardholders. Cardholders also do not pay the 10 percent excise tax on dispensary products.
Potency Caps: The 70% Ceiling
While patients and and consumers can buy more product now, the “strength” of that product is facing a new limit. This was one of the more controversial parts of SB 56. Currently, vapes and concentrates can test at 90% THC or higher. Under the new rules, these are capped at 70 percent THC. The cap for raw cannabis flower remains at 35 percent THC.
Seeds and Clones
Home-growers may see more of their needed provisions available in dispensaries as the new DCC guidance outlines that dispensaries may begin selling cannabis seeds and clones. Dispensaries are the only legal places to obtain these once the new law is in effect.
Transport & Delivery Rules for Ohio Cannabis
The new laws are very strict about where your cannabis comes from and how you carry it. SB 56’s passage makes it now explicitly illegal to possess cannabis in Ohio that was purchased in another state (like Michigan). Even if it is in its original Michigan packaging, it is considered contraband in Ohio.
When driving, your cannabis must stay in its original, unopened dispensary packaging. You must keep your products in the trunk or a spot out of reach of the driver (like behind the last seat of a van or SUV). Using cannabis in public places is also banned. If you rent, your landlord can now legally ban vaping (not just smoking) in your lease.
Another highly-anticipated piece of this ruling is having cannabis delivered from a dispensary to one’s home. According to the DCC, Senate Bill 56 updated the law to permit delivery for medical cannabis patients only. Once the Division adopts rules per ORC 3796.03 as amended by SB 56, dispensaries may be permitted at that time to deliver to medical cannabis patients. The timeline for this is yet unknown, but Dutchie and other delivery services have infrastructure in place.
The End of the “Hemp Loophole”: Where Will it All Go?
For those who use “Delta-8”, “Delta-9”, “THCa” or similar products from retail stores and gas stations, including hemp beverages at bars, those will now need to be taken off shelves and disposed of. SB 56 reclassified these as “intoxicating hemp products” making them illegal to sell.
These products must now go through the same rigorous lab testing as dispensary cannabis. So where will all the hemp products go? DCC spoke to us about that and what changes citizens will see this week, barring a last-ditch effort by one advocacy group to spark a veto referendum. The coalition for the referendum is primarily comprised of hemp sellers who would no longer be able to sell any THC products in their stores.
DCC explained to us: “While there have been different versions of legislation and even proposed amendments to SB 56 that would have placed regulation of intoxicating hemp manufacturers, products, and retailers with the DCC in some capacity, the final SB 56 does not. In other words, with this bill, intoxicating hemp products that have been unregulated on retail shelves are not simply moving into dispensaries – they are no longer permitted to be sold anywhere.
Because the division did not regulate the unlicensed intoxicating hemp offerings that were available outside licensed dispensaries, precisely what those offerings were is unknown. However, we know anecdotally those particular offerings were an attempt to mirror what was offered within the licensed cannabis industry but were done so without the rigorous testing and packaging requirements that are part of the licensed cannabis industry. So, in the end, it is likely that most if not all the offerings in the unlicensed market that were attempting to mirror those licensed products are already appropriately offered within the licensed dispensaries subject to the testing and packaging requirements necessary before being made available to the public.
All that said, there will be no situation where products that were sold at unlicensed dispensaries (like gas stations or vape shops, etc.) are transferred to licensed dispensaries to now be sold. Anything that is ultimately sold at licensed dispensaries must go through the prescribed process of being grown, processed and tested in existing facilities licensed by the Division of Cannabis Control before they can be sold to the public.”
Hemp Beverage Retailers File Suit
On March 6, a new lawsuit was filed in the Ohio Supreme Court to stop Gov. DeWine’s line-item veto that would have given a reprieve to the drinkable cannabinoid products (DCP) market. Two of the plaintiff’s represent Cincinnati’s Fifty West Brewing Company and Urban Artifact, both longtime establishments that have been vocal about how cannabis beverages give their customers a healthier alternative to alcohol. Read the complaint here.
How Soon Will We See Changes?
While the implementation of SB 56 officially happens on March 20th, DCC noted that rule updates will need to be followed beginning March 24. DCC also noted that beginning in September, all products transferred to dispensaries must comply with all ingredient and packaging limitations described in their guidance document. Licensees may continue to sell existing products that do not yet meet the new requirements until the proposed rules are finalized, but they will not be allowed to be re-packaged or sold to customers once the rules are effective.
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