It is legal to grow and own, but purchasing is prohibited.

- Adults in Ohio can now grow and possess cannabis at home, but legal purchase has not yet been established.
- Republican Governor Mike DeWine expressed concern about possible black market sales and the accessibility of harmful marijuana products.
- Some aspects of the law may apply immediately, but uncertainties remain over legal purchases and regulatory details.
Ohioans woke up Thursday to a limbo land for recreational marijuana use: Adults can now legally grow and possess cannabis at home, but they can’t legally purchase it.
On Wednesday night, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine urged lawmakers to quickly set parameters for Issue 2, the citizen initiative that voters approved in November. While the state Senate pushed through a last-minute deal hours before the law went into effect, the Ohio House adjourned without addressing it.
Rep. Jamie Callender said there is “no deadline” for implementing a legal sales plan, and that growing marijuana at home or allowing possession can proceed according to voters’ wishes.
Marijuana plants grow in the Ohio AT-CPC Mother Room on January 28, 2019 in Akron, Ohio. Ohio lawmakers are scrambling to craft legislation that will fulfill the will of voters in last month’s landslide victory for a ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)
He said he wants to “make sure that we’re thoughtful, that we’ve had adequate time to look at it and address the things that don’t go into effect right away.”
Rep. Bill Seitz also defended the decision to suspend without acting on the 160 pages of related legislation now pending in the House.
“We’re not going to pass such a monstrous proposal sight unseen in 48 hours. That’s crazy,” Seitz said. Lawmakers need time to work out the complexities of establishing cannabis sales, taxes and a regulatory structure, she said.
DeWine, however, was openly concerned about the worst-case scenario, saying that black market sales could flourish or that marijuana products with fentanyl or pesticides could become more accessible. He called the current situation a “recipe for disaster.”
Last year, lawmakers had four months to act. As a citizen-initiated statute, Issue 2 had to first be presented to the Legislature. After the GOP-controlled Legislature decided to do nothing, the measure was placed on the Nov. 7 ballot and passed with 57% of the vote.
It allows adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and grow up to six plants per person or 12 plants per household at home. He gave the state nine months to establish a system for legal marijuana purchases, subject to a 10% tax. Sales revenue would be divided between administrative costs, addiction treatment, municipalities with dispensaries, payment for social equity and employment programs that supported the cannabis industry itself.
Just days before the law took effect, Senate Republicans proposed a sweeping rewrite of what voters approved, angering supporters of the issue and alarming both parties in the House. It would have banned home growing, reduced the allowable amount of marijuana one can possess to 1 ounce, and increased taxes on purchases to 15%. It would also eliminate tax revenue funding for social equity programs that support the marijuana industry and direct most of the money raised to a state government general fund.
The compromise negotiated with DeWine and approved 28-2 by the Senate on Wednesday would reduce the number of allowed houseplants to six, maintain the higher 15% tax on purchases and reduce allowable THC levels for cannabis extracts from 90 % to 50%. The deal would restore a 2.5-ounce possession limit and allow 35% THC in plants, while eliminating state control of most revenue.
The legislation’s drafters won Democratic support in part by adding a provision to expunge the criminal records of people convicted of possession of up to 2.5 ounces. That measure would also require child-safe packaging and ban ads aimed at children, a priority for the governor.
If lawmakers stray too far from what voters approved, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol or other Issue 2 advocates can always hold a referendum. That possibility should give lawmakers an incentive to work with advocates of looser marijuana laws, said Steven Steinglass, dean emeritus of the Cleveland State University College of Law and a leading expert on Ohio’s constitution.
He said some of the maneuvers being carried out now are unprecedented.
“Voters have only approved three statutes initiated in 111 years, and none of the three have been modified, repealed or manipulated by the General Assembly,”
Senate President Matt Huffman said the Senate compromise respects voters while addressing important concerns.
“I oppose (legalization), but it is the law,” he said. “We don’t want illegal sales (the black market, so to speak) to take hold.”
In the meantime, there are many aspects of Ohio’s new law that can be applied immediately, said Louis Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecutors Association.
“Starting Thursday, it will be very difficult to find probable cause and prosecute people carrying less than 2.5 ounces of marijuana, but prosecutors and authorities will remain vigilant,” Tobin said. “People who smoke in cars are still breaking the law, people carrying more than 2.5 ounces are still breaking the law, people in private sales are still breaking the law, people driving under the influence of alcohol continues to break the law.