With the passage of the state budget and lawmakers going on recess until fall, the status of laws and policies around Ohio's legal cannabis programs at mid-year 2025 remains in a state of flux.
In at least one recent development, though, lawmakers have decided that the state should forgo a voter-backed cannabis social equity and jobs program.
That program and the fund behind it was designed to "remedy the harms resulting from the disproportionate enforcement of marijuana-related laws and to provide financial assistance and license application support to individuals most directly and adversely impacted by the enforcement of marijuana-related laws who are interested in starting or working in cannabis business enterprises," according to the language in the state's voter-approved adult-use marijuana law.
While the effectiveness of cannabis social equity programs in some other markets could be debated, the removal of that component in Ohio is frustrating to marijuana policy observers—including experts with the Drug Enforcement Policy Center (DEPC) at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law — even if it's not surprising.
Read more at MiTech News
