COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio brewers fear the state’s new ‘intoxicating’ hemp ban will kill the buzz of the booming THC‑infused drink industry.
While the drinks poured, brewery Urban Artifact's Scotty Hunter watched the clock tick.
"It's really impacted our business quite a bit more than I would have expected," Hunter said.
The Cincinnati business sells THC-infused beverages, drinks that have driven profits.
"We have improved our revenue by 30% two years in a row," he said. "We've added jobs."
But recent decisions by Ohio politicians are leaving him high and dry.
Well, just dry — not high.
"We saw about a 50% drop in our sales in the state of Ohio because of that executive order," he said.
In October, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a temporary ban on hemp that gets users high. The THC products can look like candy, and they're sold at places like gas stations and smoke shops with no age limits.
State lawmakers voted on Tuesday to send a bill to Gov. Mike Dewine, one banning the vast majority of “intoxicating” hemp.
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"Not only has intoxicating hemp been impacting our industry, but it's also impacting public health in general of Ohioans," Marijuana advocate Adrienne Robbins said after the Senate vote.
Robbins, who fought for the hemp prohibition, is glad to see the products banned.
"The fact that this bill is going to take those dangerous products off the shelf sooner rather than later is a huge win for the whole state," she said.
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I have been covering marijuana policy extensively for years, including a series answering viewer questions about cannabis.
But the legislature carved out a small exception for brewers like Hunter. Stores with liquor licenses will still be able to sell low-level THC drinks until the federal hemp ban kicks in next year.
If Congress rescinds its ban, Senate President Rob McColley said he may be open to allowing the drinks.
"That's something that we might take up again and see if we could put in a regulated process around that," McColley said.
Bobby Slattery, founder of Fifty West, said he believes THC drinks are the future for the beverage industry, adding that this year has been their lowest for beer production but highest for overall production, thanks to their THC line. He is also worried about a total ban.
“It would have a major impact on jobs inside the state and to our consumers that are drinking these,” Slattery said.
The state's craft brewing association has also spoken out against the legislation.
Hunter is worried that by the time a possible hemp system gets put into place, the buzz will be gone.
"Potentially wipe out an entire industry," he said. "We're looking at trying to adjust for that big of a drop in sales."
The governor is set to weed through the legislation, but is expected to sign it in the coming weeks.
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I have continued to cover any and all changes to marijuana policy that lawmakers are trying to make.
I also have a series answering your questions about cannabis in Ohio. Please email me written questions — or a video of you asking a question — to be featured in our next edition. Send questions to Morgan.Trau@wews.com with the subject line "THC questions."
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WCPO's Marlena Lang contributed to this story.
