Ohioans who sell intoxicating hemp products are worried what the 90-day ban that goes into effect on Tuesday will mean for their businesses and customers.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) recently announced a 90-day executive order that bans the sale of intoxicating hemp products that starts October 14.
Intoxicating hemp products are items that contain THC that are sold anywhere other than licensed marijuana dispensaries including gas stations, smoke shops and CBD stores, among others.
Todd Hicks opened his new CBD store in Columbus days before DeWine announced the ban.
“It’s been heartbreaking,” he said. “Honestly, it’s been totally heartbreaking. I don’t know which direction to go.”
Hicks said he will likely have to close his new shop and let go of his three employees.
“I can’t afford them,” he said. “Well, there’s nothing for them to do, right? They can’t sell the product. There’s no one going to be answering the door or coming to the door to actually buy the product. So I don’t need them.”
Children getting ahold of intoxicating hemp products is a parental issue, Hicks said.
“They’re digging it out of their parents’ purse or something like that,” he said. “It’s not a sale issue.”
Mark Fashian, president of hemp product wholesaler Midwest Analytical Solutions in Delaware, Ohio, said the ban will put him out of business. He works with more than 500 stores around Ohio that sell intoxicating hemp products.
“We typically will sell to smoke shops or gas stations or convenience stores or drive-thrus, and every one of those have a mechanism for carding anyone,” Fashian said. “There is definitely carding happening all over the place.”
He said those shops are worried about how the ban will impact them.
“They’re just worried,” Fashian said. “They don’t know what to do. They don’t know what to do with their products.”
Jim Higdon, co-founder of Cornbread Hemp in Kentucky, which sells its products in more than 300 Ohio retail stores, said the intoxicating hemp ban has caused lots of confusion.
“Our retailer and distributor partners are very unhappy,” he said. “It’s really frustrating to watch the Republican Party be an anti-business party… To see the governor and members of the legislature be anti-business on this front is very concerning when other states have been able to figure this out.”
Kim Bryant, a salesperson at Your CBD Store Marion, said the average age of their customer is 50 years old.
“They want gummies for pain and gummies for sleep,” she said. “People want that instead of opioids or prescription drugs… The older people, they have no desire to go to a medical marijuana or recreational marijuana facility.”
Hellbound and Down 