The speaker of the Ohio house doesn’t understand why cities are raising questions now about the state’s new law legalizing hemp.
Larry Householder said nobody brought up these concerns when lawmakers were considering the bill.
Householder said lawmakers considered the bill to legalize hemp and CBD oil for months. And he said during that time, no one raised questions about how it might make it harder to prosecute minor marijuana charges.
“It’s extremely frustrating. I just can’t believe it happened. It’s the most bizarre thing I think I’ve ever seen in my time in the legislature.”
Attorney General Dave Yost said the new law requires testing for THC levels in hemp, which could be costly for cities. He said state-owned machines will be able to do that early next year. Until then his office is offering grants to law enforcement to pursue felony level marijuana crimes.
