COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two members of the Ohio House Republicans are leading the charge to protect access to marijuana, fighting back against their own party members who aim to restrict the drug.
In November of 2023, 57% of Ohioans voted yes on Issue 2: the legalization of recreational cannabis. But since then, many GOP legislators have been trying to change the law — angering citizens, dispensaries, Democrats and even fellow Republicans.
"Thumbing our nose in the face of the voters, I think that should be a non-starter for a lot of people," state Rep. Tex Fischer (R-Boardman) said.
State Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord) has been the resident marijuana expert in the House for decades, but recently, Fischer has joined him as the other leading voice in preventing the Senate’s proposed changes to Issue 2.
"We're kind of the long and the short of the issue," Callender said, jokingly pointing out the height difference between him and Fischer.
For the past several months, the House and Senate chambers have been trying to compromise on their separate bills.
In short, the Senate’s proposal decreases THC content, reduces home growing from 12 plants to 6, imposes more criminal penalties and takes away tax money from local municipalities that have dispensaries. The House's latest version had none of those.
Click here for Senate version and here for House version changes.
In June, Callender told me an agreement was reached on following most of the House's new version, which mainly focused on preventing children from accessing the drug.
But as we reported, the Senate pulled out of a deal at the last minute.
Watch more:
RELATED: Ohio GOP infighting stalls marijuana legislation
Once the senators said "no deal," the chambers were left to figure out what to do to still pass legislation by the end of June.
But it never got there. The House GOP, made up of 65 members, couldn't reach 50 "yes" votes
"Those who are leaning 'no' have varied reasons why they're leaning no — from, 'I don't want to vote for any bill that has the word cannabis in it' to 'it restricts too much and is against the will of the voters' or 'it's going to harm local businesses and the hemp sales,'" Callender said.
Fischer, the youngest lawmaker who just turned 29, has been able to navigate the hemp side of the argument while Callender dealt with cannabis.
The Senate has also passed legislation that would completely remove hemp, low-level THC products such as delta 8, from being sold anywhere besides a licensed marijuana dispensary. This would prevent the grocery stores, smoke shops, wellness facilities, convenience stores and gas stations from selling the product.
Fischer argues that this is against the free market, and there are better ways to regulate the product without harming businesses or consumers who don't want to visit a dispensary or don't have one in their area.
Delta 8 has become a major concern for Gov. Mike DeWine, who conducted an "undercover sting operation," sending in teenagers to buy low-level marijuana from a convenience store. As of right now, hemp products do not have an age requirement. Both Callender and Fischer say there should be, and also testing requirements like cannabis, which has all been included in their legislation.
"I don't want to pass a policy that only punishes the people in Ohio that are playing by the rules, that are embracing regulation, that want to be productive and be a part of this conversation," the Gen-Z legislator said.
The governor, on the other hand, says he just wants something done — and has been asking legislators to move on this for years.
"How frustrated are you when it comes to marijuana?" I asked the governor in late June.
"I don't know if frustration is the right word; I'm hopeful that the legislature will wrap this up and give us a bill and we can go on to other, other discussions," the governor said, smirking. "This is the whole issue in regard to the implementation of what the people of the state of Ohio voted on. It's important."
Marijuana policy expert state Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) hadn't been focusing on hemp while going through the negotiations process because he was under the impression that everything was fine with the Senate's proposal, he told me.
"We really haven't had much discussion on hemp in the last six months or 6 weeks," he said, adding that this is the number one priority to handle. "We felt it wasn't the issue [we disagreed on]."
The Senate, even the last General Assembly when current House Speaker Matt Huffman was the Senate President, was in lockstep with DeWine on restricting marijuana access and handling hemp. The more marijuana-friendly House members, led by Callender, have been behind the stall.
"I believe that it's really important that we get this done by June 30th, and particularly hemp, so our young Teenagers aren't going to convenience stores this summer and getting intoxicated," S. Huffman told me in late June."
I have been covering marijuana policy extensively for years, including a series answering viewer questions about cannabis.
Senate Finance Chair Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) stated that the lack of action prevents municipalities from receiving their share of the revenue. During the budget negotiations, lawmakers addressed a "defect" in the initiated statute, one that inadvertently prevents any of the tax revenue from being returned to its designated fund.
The law gives the 10% tax revenue from each marijuana sale to four different venues: 36% to the social equity fund to help people disproportionately impacted by marijuana-related laws; 36% to host cities — ones that have dispensaries; 25% to the state’s mental health and addiction services department; and 3% to the state’s cannabis control department.
Although the lawmakers could have expedited the distribution process by amending the law in the budget, they didn't.
"There will not be distributions out to the local governments, to the host communities, until we deal with the entire marijuana bill," Cirino said.
Cities would rather wait a few months to get their funding, Callender said, rather than have the Senate remove it completely — which was in that chamber's proposal.
"Both of you are fine with the fact that we're going into summer recess and Issue 2 is gonna stay as is?" I asked Callender and Fischer.
"I'm fine with that, but I think we do need some implementation language," Callender responded. "But generally, I'm fine taking another six months. I'd rather take six months and get it right than have something that is against the will of the voters."
"The will of the voters is a perfectly acceptable situation," Fischer replied.
Lawmakers will attempt to renegotiate in the fall.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
