RED ALERT Call to Action

Jun 21

Written By Eb THC

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Senate Bill 56 (SB56) out of Committee this coming Tuesday, June 24th. The hearing is at 10 AM in Room 122, at the Ohio State House.

SB56 has already been approved by the Senate, if the Bill makes it out of House Committee, it will be voted on by the entire House. It is unclear if the GOP will hold the party line and support this bill. Democrats have come out and said they are voting no, as a party. Republican’s hold a majority in the House, so we need to stop this in Committee.

**It is not clear if there will be an opportunity to testify. The Status on the Bill Tracker Page is “4th Hearing” “Possible Vote” “Possible Sub Bill” which means they do not intend to hear testimony. The committee feels it has heard all it needs to.

Let’s make sure they continue to hear us.

Rep. Jamie Callender: rep57@ohiohouse.gov (614) 644-6074- The Lynch-pin who all of the republican cannabis-supporters look to.
Rep. Jim Thomas: rep49@ohiohouse.gov (614) 466-8030- The Committee Chair
Rep. Brian Stewart: rep12@ohiohouse.gov (614) 466-1464- HB160 Author and supposed “Cannabis Expert” in the house.

Rep. Scott Oelslager: rep48@ohiohouse.gov (614) 752-2438- The Wildcard
Rep. Josh Williams: rep44@ohiohouse.gov (614) 466-1418- The Legal Scholar

What to say

We want a cannabis industry that is education-based, science-backed, and community focused.
SB56 is so drastically different from what the people voted for that it violates our right to citizens initiative process and to reform our government
We know what we voted for.
SB56 combines the Adult-Use and Medical programs. Making it harder for patients to have protections, removing their rights, and further complicating the conversation and the stigma around regulated and medicinal cannabis use.
We need to make right the wrongs we have perpetuated with previous legislation.
SB56 violates the state constitution by changing core strictures of Issue 2, whereas the Constitution only allows the General Assembly to “Facilitate” the Initiated Statute, not recriminalizing something we have voted on multiple times in this state.
Hemp should not be controlled by the DCC. Synthetic and international hemp should be banned, we should buy our hemp from Ohio Farmers when possible. This program should be controlled by the Department of Agriculture and that should be resolved as a separate piece of legislation.
We want what we voted for.

Deeper Look

It is clear that in-fighting, confusion and our voices are making a difference here.

Matt Huffman aka Speaker of the House and his cousin Stephen Huffman aka the Senator Sponsoring SB56 are embarrassed by the in-fighting. Jamie Callender is holding strong for certain provisions, such as communities receiving their tax appropriation in perpetuity.

This bill will re-criminalize Cannabis. It allows for charges, including felony charges, for repeat offenses of violations. The people voted for civil penalties, and the legislature is changing the terms to criminal penalties. It does not allow for home grow out of the house, no smoking in public places. It caps THC levels. This bill takes away the money allocated for our cities, and puts it in the general fund where it can be used for law-enforcement tactics against cannabis users. The Ohio legislature is currently withholding all of the adult use sales tax from our cities and they need to release it immediately! SB 56 does not account for social equity or the new tier 3 mom and pop licenses Ohio voted for.

We must protect state rights, constitutional rights, & common sense to fight against the Ohio/ United States killing machine.

Who profits from our contaminated food, water, soil, air, or health industry?

There are not any political party lines anymore, this is about life and death, liberty or taxation without representation.

Either we side with this country’s foundations & uphold laws for all or we submit to enemies. Nobody is above all laws & we must have a fair justice system for everyone.