Ohio Judge Calls Hemp Product Ban, Cannabis Product Allowance ‘Discriminatory,’ Issues TRO
Sandusky County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeremiah Ray granted a TRO
A new Ohio law began prohibiting intoxicating hemp products on March 20, but one judge is telling law enforcement officials to hold their horses.
Sandusky County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeremiah Ray granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) on March 24 that prevents the Fremont Police Department and “all who may act in concert with them” from enforcing a statewide ban under Senate Bill 56, legislation that Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in December.
Under S.B. 56, Ohio lawmakers aligned the Buckeye State’s definition of intoxicating hemp products with a forthcoming federal ban that will be implemented on Nov. 12.
Ohio’s problem – at least in Sandusky County – is that S.B. 56 provides “exclusive” rights to licensed cannabis businesses to sell certain intoxicating hemp products that will otherwise remain federally legal for the next seven-plus months, Ray wrote in the TRO.
“The discriminatory effects are apparent: no out-of-state hemp or hemp beverages will be legal in Ohio, and possession or sale may generate felony charges, whereas sale of materially similar product by the favored class of federally illegal marihuana dealing companies would be legal under the new Ohio law,” Ray wrote. “This favoritism suggests that the dormant Commerce Clause challenge is likely to succeed on the merits.”
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