COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cannabis advocates are pushing back against a new Ohio law that bans intoxicating hemp products from being sold outside dispensaries and makes changes to Ohio’s recreational marijuana regulations. Ohioans for Cannabis Choice is working to put a referendum on a future ballot to block the measure from taking effect.

Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 56 into law Dec. 19, effectively prohibiting the sale of intoxicating hemp products at retailers other than dispensaries. The legislation also makes changes to Ohio’s recreational marijuana law, including prohibiting people from buying marijuana in another state and bringing it to Ohio and limiting home cultivation to six plants.

DeWine also vetoed a provision in the bill that would have allowed THC beverages to be sold until the end of next year. Those drinks will now be banned as of mid-March.

Michael Capace, who started Pilot Canning in Columbus in June 2024, said his company produces and cans beverages including water, tea, soda and THC seltzers for in state and out-of-state businesses. THC beverages make up about 15% of his business.

While Capace said he has always supported regulating the drinks, he believes the new law goes too far.

“We were totally on board with the idea of having milligram caps and preventing children and such from getting these beverages,” Capace said. “It is really putting a limit on the kind of things we can create and supplying customers with the beverages they really want.”

The same day DeWine signed the bill, Ohioans for Cannabis Choice announced plans to pursue a citizen referendum to stop the law from taking effect. On Monday afternoon, the group filed its initial petition signed by at least 1,000 valid voters to the secretary of state and attorney general for certification.

“SB 56 forcefully defies the will of the voters of Ohio, who spoke clearly on this issue, and denies the people of Ohio the freedom to use these products for their personal use,” spokesman Dennis Willard said in a statement. “We are launching a referendum campaign to go directly to the voters.”

Willard referenced Issue 2, a ballot initiative voters approved in 2023 legalizing recreational marijuana in Ohio.

If the petition is certified, Ohioans for Cannabis Choice will need to collect and submit about 250,000 valid voter signatures from 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties to the secretary of state by mid-March to get the referendum on the November 2026 ballot. That number represents 6% of the vote in the most recent gubernatorial election.

“We believe voters will say no to government overreach, no to closing 6,000 small businesses and pink-slipping thousands of workers across the state, and no to once again recriminalizing hemp and marijuana,” Willard said.

The Ohio Healthy Alternatives Association released a statement Monday supporting the ballot referendum.

“We are confident that Ohio voters will stand in support of local businesses and their right to provide safe and regulated hemp products,” a spokesperson said.

At the bill signing, DeWine said federal law only allows THC beverage sales through November.

“I think it would bring about more confusion,” DeWine said. “It seemed to me we should have uniformity in this area.”

The Ohio Cannabis Coalition, or OHCANN, represents Ohio’s licensed marijuana cultivators, processors and retailers. It supports Senate Bill 56.

“With Governor DeWine’s signature on Senate Bill 56, Ohio is demonstrating leadership as one of the first states in the nation to act following the closure of the Farm Bill loophole,” Executive Director David Bowling said in a statement. “By closing the unregulated, dangerous intoxicating hemp market this law reflects a clear commitment to public safety and reinforces Ohio’s responsible, well-regulated cannabis market.”

Capace said he hopes the referendum effort succeeds but noted uncertainty remains in the beverage industry.

“It’s really hard to see into the future and plan accordingly because we’ve put in a lot of infrastructure and such in order to support making these beverages,” he said.