COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s been one week since the Ohio Senate passed HB 86 – an amendment to Issue 2 that was added to a non-controversial bill regarding liquor control that was already making its way through the legislature.
The House has also introduced its own version of a bill to amend the law, which remains in committee.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce has been involved in hearings for both the Senate and House bills that include amendments to the marijuana law and is calling on the General Assembly for urgency to establish an amendment to provide Ohioans with more clarity about the law.
Rick Carfagna, the senior vice president of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, has been involved in the hearings for both bills.
“There's a sense of urgency to clarify a number of provisions in this new law,” Carfagna said.
For example: tax revenue and how it will be divided up.
When it comes to how the tax revenue is distributed under HB 354, the majority would go to the Cannabis Social Equity and Jobs fund and to the Host Community Cannabis fund.
It would go to supporting the 988 suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline and substance abuse and addiction services in county jails.
It would also go to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to develop the state's Mental Health Workforce and to the Division of Marijuana Control and Department of Taxation.
Under HB 86, the tax rate would increase to 15%, up from 10% that was passed originally in the language of Issue 2.
The money would be used for:
1. Law enforcement training and operations
2. Public health and safety
3. Access to justice initiatives
4. Administration of adult-use marijuana laws
“We think that law enforcement needs to be funded,” Carfagna said.
"Prior to this law moving forward, we've already seen a high uptick in narcotics being onboard other than just alcohol in somebody's system,” said Chief Jim Gilbert from the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
Gilbert said there's a need for law enforcement to step up training, to combat the increasing number of Ohioans who are high behind the wheel.
"We've already seen a gradual uptick in fatal crashes here in Franklin County involving impaired drivers who are also high on marijuana,” Gilbert said. “In fact, just a month ago we had a cruiser get rear-ended. That individual was arrested by OSP for marijuana in his system. Not alcohol, but marijuana.”
The House has not brought the Senate's bill to the floor for a vote. It's unclear how soon that could happen. The House bill remains in committee.