“You’re coming to take the item that I am making money on — you’re making money on (in tax revenue) — away, and it does not benefit no one," said Hamdan. “That’s where I come and say, let’s regulate it, keep it, let’s all make money. Focus on all, not one side.”
Hamdan projects that his shop, which employs four people, including himself, will struggle to stay afloat as a result of the ban.
“If we lose that … it would absolutely (have an) impact on being open, serving communities, having employees. It’s gonna get worse," he said.
Proponents of the ban — namely Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who has been sounding alarms regarding intoxicating hemp’s lack of mandated testing, concerns about marketing to children, and the fact that Ohioans of any age can purchase intoxicating hemp — see the forthcoming change as a net positive for the state.
“To me, the most important part of the bill obviously is that for the first time we’re gonna have some regulation,” DeWine told reporters last week. “We’ll no longer be in the wild, wild west; we’ll have some regulation of the juiced-up hemp. To me, that’s a major, major victory.”
DeWine has long lamented the intoxicating hemp market, which sprouted up following the federal 2018 farm bill that legalized the production of hemp plants — marijuana’s low-THC cousin. In the time since, other naturally occurring and/or artificially enhanced cannabinoids from the hemp plant, like delta-8 or THCA, have been used to create products that can make users feel high.
Ever since, federal and state laws have technically allowed the stuff to be sold without government-mandated testing or restrictions on who can buy it, or the groups it can be marketed to.
“It was a long time coming, but it’s a major victory for kids in the state. There’s gonna be some regulation; they won’t be able to have juiced-up hemp gummies, you won’t be able to walk into the gas station and (have) an 11-year-old buy this stuff,” DeWine said.
The ban will go into effect 90 days after the Republican governor signs Senate Bill 56, which he has pledged to do.
It took a bit of elbow grease, but S.B. 56 was finally passed by the Ohio legislature on Dec. 9, on the back of Republican support. Earlier versions of the bill floated a plan to create an intoxicating hemp retail license to essentially mirror Ohio’s recreational marijuana market, but those state-level talks were shut down once Congress voted to make intoxicating hemp products illegal beginning in November 2026.
Ohio’s new law will nix the products before the new federal law kicks in. The bill does, however, maintain a longer runway for THC beverages, which can be sold by licensed liquor retailers until the products become illegal at the federal level in late 2026.
Still, the blanket ban that Ohio landed on leaves a bad taste for companies that expect to be impacted.
Hamdan thinks the concern that minors are buying intoxicating hemp products is overstated. He argued that the products themselves often have 21+ labeling on them and are predominantly sold in gas stations, head shops, and corner stores — three types of businesses that are accustomed to checking ID.
“My shop is already equipped for 21-year-and-older sales, by signage, by attitude, by service, by et cetera and by all of the above,” Hamdan said.
Justin Helt, co-founder and CEO of the Ohio Hemp Company out of New Carlisle, told this outlet that he doesn’t expect his revenues to drop — his crops are largely used for the production of hemp fiber and grain — but he expressed concern that a clampdown on hemp-derived products might force his company to jump through extra hoops.
“Blanket bans and broad language tend to hurt everyone involved and have unintended consequences across the industry,” Helt said. “So, while that ban doesn’t necessarily firsthand affect what we’re producing, it just brings a lot of drama into the industry as a whole where it’s not really needed.”
From broader industry perspectives, the Ohio Cannabis Coalition, a trade group on behalf of the recreational market, applauds the ban. Executive Director David Bowling praised Ohio for becoming one of the earliest states to close the window on intoxicating hemp, adding that the ban shows a “clear commitment to public safety and a responsible marketplace.”
The Ohio Healthy Alternatives Association, a hemp industry advocate, released a statement with a less rosy depiction: “This legislation will have devastating consequences for the hemp industry, decimating the lives of tens of thousands of families, small business owners and employees across the state,” it read in part.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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