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Ohio House Passes Bill Legalizing Hemp Cultivation

a photo of a store selling CBD oils
JO INGLES
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
In August 2018, a store in Columbus was selling products with CBD oils, which was illegal at the time, according to the rules of the state's Pharmacy Board. Products with CBD oil were being sold in boutique shops and health food stores.

Most of the attention on lawmakers focused on their approval of a state budget 17 days after the deadline. But they also passed a bill to decriminalize hemp and license its cultivation.

Republican Rep. Kyle Koehler said Ohio is one of a handful of states that hasn’t allowed hemp cultivation. 

“It is imperative that Ohio moves quickly so that our farmers can take advantage of a domestic hemp marketplace and catch up with our neighboring states,” he said.

The bill, which easily passed in the House and Senate, also legalizes the sales of cannabidiol oil, CBD oil, derived from hemp. The products must limit the level of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the compound that gives marijuana its high.

Ohio farmers and the business community backed the bill. Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to sign it into law soon.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.