Since February, Ohioans for Cannabis Choice has been working to challenge a ban on intoxicating hemp products that was signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine back in December of 2025.

The group was required to gather 250,000 voter signatures before the petition could move forward, onto the November ballot. In a Wednesday press release, Ohioans for Cannabis Choice said it was ending it had failed to reach the necessary number of signatures in the allotted time frame.

“We want to thank the more than 5,000 Ohioans and businesses who volunteered their time and sweat to try to collect the signatures needed to put SB 56 before voters,” Dennis Willard, spokesperson for Ohioans for Cannabis Choice said. This doesn't change the reality that marijuana will be re-criminalized in Ohio, businesses will close, workers will lose their jobs, and consumers will be denied their right to products they should be able to purchase.”

Under Senate Bill 56 as law, the amount of dispensaries in Ohio are capped at 350 and the number of cannabis plants grown at home are limited.

Back in 2023, Ohioans voted for a 10 percent tax on cannabis. 36 percent of that revenue would go back to the dispensary's host community. This bill raises taxes to 15% and sends the tax dollars to Ohio's general revenue fund, rather than the local community.

Struthers, Warren, Boardman, Youngstown, and Austintown are just a few of the communities that house dispensaries and could lose out on hundreds of thousands of tax dollars.

Groups like the Ohio Cannabis Coalition (OHCANN) have opposed the efforts of Ohioans for Cannabis Choice in the past, alleging the group did not have the interests of communities at heart. OHCANN said in February that the petition campaign was being funded by “intoxicating hemp interests that profit from the spread of misinformation" rather than "licensed cannabis businesses.”

Senate Bill 56 will go into effect on March 20.

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