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by WSYX Staff
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has rejected a petition seeking to repeal a state law that authorizes changes to Ohio’s medical and adult-use marijuana laws, ruling that the proposal’s summary would mislead voters.
The petition aimed to repeal Sections 1, 2 and 3 of Senate Bill 56, which was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine last month. The legislation bans all forms of low-level THC intoxicating hemp products, including beverages. Yost said he received the referendum petition and summary on Dec. 29.
Under Ohio law, the attorney general must determine whether a petition’s title and summary are “fair and truthful statements of the measure to be referred.” Yost said the submission failed that test.
“Upon review of the summary, we identified omissions and misstatements that, as a whole, would mislead a potential signer as to the scope and effect of S.B. 56,” Yost wrote in his response letter to petitioners.
In the letter, Yost outlined several specific issues, including inaccurate descriptions of how the law defines hemp, what types of cannabis delivery are permitted, and the role of local governments. He said the summary incorrectly claimed the bill allows delivery of adult-use marijuana, when the law only authorizes delivery for medical marijuana patients.
“Nowhere in the bill is the division of cannabis control authorized to adopt rules on the delivery of adult-use cannabis,” Yost wrote, calling the summary “inaccurate and misleading.”
Yost also said the petition misstated the law’s impact on local government authority, suggesting cities and municipalities could prohibit activities that state law allows. “In reality, the law does the opposite,” Yost wrote, noting that Senate Bill 56 explicitly prohibits local governments from limiting activities authorized under state cannabis law.
The attorney general further took issue with claims about taxation, saying the summary wrongly suggested local governments could levy an excise tax on adult-use marijuana sales. “S.B. 56 explicitly prohibits local governments from levying an excise tax on the retail sale of adult-use marijuana,” Yost wrote.
Because of those and other errors, Yost said he could not certify the summary and declined to approve the petition, adding that additional review would occur if a revised version is resubmitted. As a result, petitioners must rewrite the summary and restart the approval process if they wish to move forward.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.