Regards the sale and testing of intoxicating hemp products

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
S. B. No. 266

2025-2026

Senator DeMora

Cosponsors: Senators Lang, Antonio,
Blackshear, Craig, Hicks-Hudson, Ingram, Weinstein

To
enact sections 3779.01, 3779.02, 3779.03, and 3779.99 of the Revised
Code
to
establish specified requirements governing the sale and testing of
intoxicating hemp products.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
sections 3779.01, 3779.02, 3779.03, and 3779.99 of the Revised Code
be enacted to read as follows:

Sec.
3779.01.
As
used in this chapter:

(A)
"Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol" and "hemp product"
have the same meanings as in section 928.01 of the Revised Code.

(B)
"Identification card" means a driver's or commercial
driver's license, an identification card issued under sections
4507.50 to 4507.52 of the Revised Code or an equivalent
identification card issued by another state, a military
identification card issued by the United States department of
defense, or a United States or foreign passport that displays a
picture of the individual for whom the license, card, or passport is
issued and shows that the person buying is then at least twenty-one
years of age.

(C)
"Intoxicating hemp product" means a hemp product containing
any amount of synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol, more than five-tenths
of a milligram of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol per serving, two
milligrams of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol per package, or
five-tenths of a milligram of total non-delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol
per package. "Intoxicating hemp product" does not include a
hemp product that cannot be ingested, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or
used sublingually.

(D)
"Sell" means the exchange, barter, gift, offer for sale,
and sale of an intoxicating hemp product.

(E)
"Tetrahydrocannabinol" means naturally occurring or
synthetic equivalents, regardless of whether artificially or
naturally derived, of the substances contained in the plant, or in
the resinous extractives of cannabis, sp. or derivatives, and their
isomers with similar chemical structure to delta-1-cis or trans
tetrahydrocannabinol, and their optical isomers, salts and salts of
isomers. "Tetrahydrocannabinol" includes, but is not
limited to, delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, delta-10
tetrahydrocannabinol, tetrahydrocannabinol-o acetate,
tetrahydrocannabiphorol, tetrahydrocannabivarin, hexahydrocannabinol,
delta-6-cis or trans tetrahydrocannabinol, delta-3,4-cis or trans
tetrahydrocannabinol, 9-hexahydrocannabinol, and
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol acetate.

Since
nomenclature of these substances is not internationally standardized,
compounds of these structures, regardless of designation of atomic
positions, are included.

"Tetrahydrocannabinol"
does not include the following:

(1)
Tetrahydrocannabinols approved by the United States food and drug
administration for marketing as a medication or recognized by the
United States food and drug administration as generally recognized as
safe;

(2)
Cannabichromene (CBC);

(3)
Cannabicyclol (CBL);

(4)
Cannabidiol (CBD);

(5)
Cannabidivarol (CBDV);

(6)
Cannabielsoin (CBE);

(7)
Cannabigerol (CBG);

(8)
Cannabigerovarin (CBGV);

(9)
Cannabinol (CBN);

(10)
Cannabivarin (CBV).

(F)
"Total non-delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol" means the sum,
after the application of any necessary conversion factor, of the
percentage by weight of tetrahydrocannabinol, other than delta-9
tetrahydrocannabinol, and the percentage by weight of
tetrahydrocannabinolic acid.

Sec.
3779.02.
No
person shall do any of the following:

(A)
Sell an intoxicating hemp product to an individual who is under
twenty-one years of age as verified by examining the individual's
identification card;

(B)
Subject to division (B) of section 3779.03 of the Revised Code, sell
an intoxicating hemp product that has not been tested in compliance
with rules adopted under section 3780.03 of the Revised Code that
otherwise apply to adult use cannabis;

(C)
Sell an intoxicating hemp product in any form or method that is
considered attractive to children as established in rules adopted
under section 3779.03 of the Revised Code.

Sec.
3779.03.
(A)
The superintendent of cannabis control shall adopt rules in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing
criteria for what constitutes an intoxicating hemp product that is
attractive to children. The rules shall, at a minimum, include
criteria prohibiting an intoxicating hemp product from being sold in
a form or shape that bears the likeness or contains the
characteristics of a realistic or fictional human, animal, or fruit,
including artistic, caricature, or cartoon renderings.

(B)
The superintendent shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119.
of the Revised Code establishing standards for testing intoxicating
hemp products. Notwithstanding Chapters 3780. and 3796. of the
Revised Code and rules adopted under those chapters to the contrary,
an intoxicating hemp product that is sold at retail in this state
shall be tested in a facility licensed in accordance with Chapter
3780. of the Revised Code and rules adopted under it or, as approved
by the director, in a facility in another state that meets
requirements that are substantially similar to applicable
requirements established under Chapter 3780. of the Revised Code and
rules adopted under it.

Sec.
3779.99.
(A)
Whoever recklessly violates division (A) of section 3779.02 of the
Revised Code is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree.

(B)
Whoever recklessly violates division (C) of section 3779.02 of the
Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.