Tag: ohio

Ohio GOP Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Raise Marijuana Tax, Restrict Home Grow And Eliminate Social Equity Funding

Ohio Republican lawmakers are reviving an effort to significantly alter the state’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law—in part by raising the tax on cannabis products, halving the number of plants adults could grow and eliminating certain social equity provisions.

While GOP leadership has generally pledged that they will not seek to repeal the marijuana law altogether, a newly filed bill from Sen. Steve Huffman (R)—which the Senate president signaled he supports—would make major changes that substantially depart from the provisions of the initiative that voters strongly approved in 2023.

Among the proposed revisions, the bill would increase the excise tax on marijuana from 10 percent to 15 percent. And rather than have revenue allocated to specific areas supporting social equity and jobs programs, local governments that permit marijuana businesses, education and substance misuse initiatives and more, all revenue would instead go to the state general fund.

Senate President Rob McColley (R) told The Columbus Dispatch that legislators intend to discuss possible disbursements of that revenue this session, but he said he’s aligned with the bill sponsor on the idea of increasing the tax rate for cannabis.

“There’s an awful lot of societal costs that are going to have to be borne by the legalization of marijuana,” he said.

Under Huffman’s bill, adults would only be able to grow up to six plants, rather than 12, for personal use. It would also decrease the THC content cap from 90 percent to 70 percent.

Further, the proposal would limit the number of dispensaries to 350, while requiring all licensed retailers to serve both adult-use consumers and medical cannabis patients. The state Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) would also no longer be required to establish rules allowing for marijuana deliveries and online purchases.

GOP lawmakers considered a variety of potential amendments to the marijuana law in the weeks after voters passed the ballot initiative, and this latest attempt is likely to see similar pushback.

Sen. Bill DeMora (D) said during a committee hearing on Wednesday that the proposal effectively amounts to legislators telling voters: “Screw you, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You passed it with an overwhelming majority in the state, but we know better than they did what they were voting on.”

Huffman, the bill sponsor, said the legislation is not meant to “do away with the ballot initiative.”

“It’s to work around the edges to make it better,” he said.

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Mysterious drones spotted in Ohio skies, again

People who live in Mercer County have been left puzzled following a series of mysterious drone sightings over the past few nights. Sheriff Doug Timmerman confirmed that his office is actively investigating the incidents and working closely with federal and local law enforcement to identify the origin and operators of the drones.

According to Sheriff Timmerman, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office is collaborating with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the FBI, and local law enforcement in nearby counties, including those across the Indiana border. Despite these efforts, the purpose of the drones and their operators remains unknown.

“Our office is aware of the significant number of drone sightings, and we are taking this matter seriously,” said Sheriff Timmerman in a statement. “We are committed to identifying who is behind these flights and ensuring the safety of our community.”

The Sheriff’s Office is calling on Mercer County residents to assist in the investigation by sharing any information or video footage of the drones. Citizens who capture footage are encouraged to submit it via the Mercer Sheriff Facebook page and provide the specific location where the video was taken. “For safety reasons, we strongly advise against trying to confront or follow these drones,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

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Fatal Traffic Crashes Linked To Marijuana Fell By 30% In Ohio Last Year As Legalization Took Effect, Contrary To Opponents’ Fears

As marijuana legalization took effect in Ohio over the last year, the number of fatal traffic crashes in linked to cannabis fell by 30 percent—contrary to warnings from opponents of the policy change who feared it would lead to more deadly car accidents involving stoned drivers. That’s according to new preliminary data from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which found that proportion of impaired drivers suspected to be under the influence of marijuana also declined compared to 2023.

State voters approved marijuana legalization in November 2023, with use and possession becoming legal the following month. Adult-use cannabis sales, meanwhile, began last August.

State voters approved marijuana legalization in November 2023, with use and possession becoming legal the following month. Adult-use cannabis sales, meanwhile, began last August.

All told, there were 1,067 fatal traffic crashes in Ohio during 2024—the lowest number in at least five years, and down 7 percent from the 1,150 fatal crashes in 2023.

Of those, about 20 percent (215 crashes) were linked to cannabis last year—also the lowest number in years, and down from 27 percent (306 crashes) in 2023.

Impaired driving—referred to in Ohio as operating a vehicle under the influence, or OVI—also decreased from 2023 to 2024, with 644 fewer arrests last year compared to a year earlier. There were 83 fewer cannabis-related OVI arrests in 2024 compared to 2023.

In 2023, authorities logged 15,276 OVI arrests, about 10 percent (1,454) of which were related to marijuana. In 2024, 14,632 arrests took place—a decrease of about 4 percent. Of those, 1,371 were suspected to be linked to cannabis—a drop of approximately 6 percent.

Overall, 242 people died in Ohio last year in crashes believed to involve marijuana use. That’s 28 percent fewer deaths than the 335 logged in 2023. It’s also the lowest number of fatal traffic accidents involving cannabis since at least 2020.

The total number of crashes in general linked to marijuana in 2024—1,171—was also the lowest number since at least 2020 and marked a 12 percent decline since 2023.

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Police Bodycam Footage Is Going Behind a Paywall

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law on Thursday changes to the state’s public records statute that allow law enforcement agencies to charge hundreds of dollars for body camera footage. Though such videos are central to watchdog reporting and police oversight, Ohio opted to join a handful of states that have made it easier for cops to put a steep price tag on transparency.

“Public bodies should be in the business of making it easier — not harder — for the public and the press to access important government records like body worn camera footage,” said Gunita Singh, an attorney at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “There’s no need to impose vast sums of money onto requesters doing their part to foster transparency and accountability.”

Over the past decade, more law enforcement agencies have deployed body cameras — and the footage they provide has become central to covering cops and stemming police brutality. At the same time, law enforcement agencies and police unions have begun complaining about the time and expense of turning these videos over to the public when requested. Some states have responded by authorizing fees for processing footage: In 2023, Arizona passed a law allowing charges up to $46 “per video-hour reviewed.” In 2016, Indiana authorized fees as high as $150 per video.

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Ohio Meat Processing Company “Fresh Mark, Inc.” Agrees to Pay $3.7M Penalty for Employing Migrant Workers Using Stolen U.S. Citizens’ Identities

Fresh Mark, Inc., an Ohio-based meat processing company, has entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with federal authorities after its hiring manager orchestrated a scheme involving aggravated identity theft and obstruction of justice.

This agreement allows the company to avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for meeting certain criteria, including paying a penalty and implementing a compliance and ethics program.

The case, centered on Fresh Mark’s Salem facility, revealed that Yelwin Omar Munoz-Solis, a hiring manager, actively participated in a conspiracy to steal the identities of U.S. citizens.

These stolen identities were then handed to illegal immigrants seeking employment at Fresh Mark’s processing plants. Munoz-Solis not only facilitated the fraudulent hiring but also falsified I-9 documents to deceive federal authorities about the employees’ eligibility to work in the United States.

Between 2013 and 2018, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents exposed Fresh Mark’s hiring practices, leading to the detention of 146 illegal aliens employed at the company’s facilities in Salem, Massillon, and Canton.

Thirty of these individuals faced federal charges for immigration violations, but the scandal didn’t stop there.

The company’s complicity in the fraudulent scheme was cemented when Munoz-Solis pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.

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Ohio State University Nailed for Millions in the Same DEI Con Afflicting Other Top Schools

If you or any of your children who are of or almost college age are considering attending The Ohio State University (OSU), then you absolutely must read the facts about the costly fraud being inflicted upon that august institution by the Diversity-Equity-Inclusion (DEI) Con Industry.

Yes, I’m speaking of that perennial college football powerhouse in Columbus, one of the major cities of the increasingly deep-red state that has as its official tree the Buckeye, and OSU’s sports teams are known as the Buckeyes. Just in case you wonder, the Buckeye tree is highly toxic, as are its nuts.

Toxic is also applicable to the DEI monstrosity uncovered at OSU by who else but Open the Books (OTB):

Ohio State University spent $13.3 million on pay for 201 employees with DEI-related roles last year. That’s the equivalent of full tuition for over 1,000 in-state students at its main Columbus campus.

The highest paid DEI officials are James L. More, vice provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at OSU, and Keesha Mitchell, associate vice president for the Office of Institutional Equity, practically tied at just under $300,000 each.

Another 29 people make between $100,000 and $269,000, with titles such as associate dean for diversity, inclusion, and outreach ($269,260), another associate vice president for the Office of Institutional Equity ($226,644), assistant vice provost for diversity and inclusion ($171,889), academic director for diversity and inclusion ($170,435), assistant dean and director of diversity, equity and inclusion ($145,923), among many more.

Those high salaries keep the DEI propaganda apparatus operating at full speed in OSU classrooms, spreading pernicious and racist Critical Race Theory (CRT) myths like the one that claims that white Americans are incapable of recognizing their own racism because they are so blinded by white privilege.

Then there is the DEI myth that black Americans are incapable of being racists because they are inescapably victims of that same white privilege. And those are just skimming the very top layers of a deceitful package of lies that semester after semester produces college graduates who have lost touch with reality, both in the present and past American history.

Everything DEI touches is corrupted. Consider DEI’s impact on women’s studies, according to the OTB investigators: “It offers courses like ‘Sexualities and Citizenship: A survey of cultural, social, and political issues related to historical and contemporary lesbian experience in the United States” and “Queer Ecologies: Gender, Sexuality, & the Environment.'”

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Top Ohio Lawmaker Wants To Restrict Marijuana Homegrow Rights And Strengthen THC Potency Caps

Republican lawmakers in Ohio are once again aiming to scale back parts of the state’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law, looking to a proposal from last year that would have decreased allowable THC levels in state-legal cannabis products, reduced the number of plants that adults can grow at home and increased costs for consumers at dispensaries.

Those provisions, backed by Senate President Matt Huffman (R), were added to separate House legislation last year and passed by the Senate. House lawmakers ultimately blocked the Senate changes, however, with some members emphasizing the importance of protecting the will of voters, who passed the legalization law on a 53–47 margin in November 2023.

Come next month, however, Huffman will take over as speaker of the House, having won a seat in last month’s election and subsequently being chosen for the leadership role by colleagues. The move is widely expected to give Huffman new power to push his marijuana proposal forward.

“There were some fundamental flaws in the initiative that was introduced and passed by the voters, which you usually have when there’s not a vetting from all sides,” Huffman told reporters last week about the voter-approved marijuana law. “The bill that the Senate passed last December addresses many of those things.”

Initially, changes backed by Hoffman would have eliminated home cultivation rights entirely for Ohio adults and criminalized all cannabis obtained anywhere other than a state-licensed retailer. Those amendments would have also reduced the marijuana possession limit, raised sales tax on cannabis purchases and diverted funding away from social equity programs and toward law enforcement.

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Ohio Would Ban Intoxicating Hemp Product Sales Under GOP Senator’s New Bill

State Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, introduced a bill that would ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products in Ohio.

The Republican lawmaker introduced Senate Bill 326 on Thursday. State lawmakers are set to return to the Ohio Statehouse next week for the start of lame duck.

S.B. 326 defines intoxicating hemp products as containing more than 0.5 of a milligram of delta-9 THC per serving, two milligrams of delta-9 THC per package, or 0.5 of a milligram of total non-delta-9 THC per package, according to the bill’s language.

“This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety,” the bill said. “The reason for such necessity is to protect Ohioans, especially Ohio’s youth, from untested, unregulated dangerous tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products. Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect.”

Marijuana, which is legal in Ohio, is not included as an intoxicating hemp product, according to the bill’s language. Ohio recreational marijuana sales recently topped $143.4 million since sales started three months ago, according to the the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control.

The 2018 Farm Bill says hemp can be grown legally if it contains less than 0.3 percent THC. Intoxicating hemp products can come in many forms including edibles, beverages, vaping cartridges or oils, among other things.

Delta-9 THC is the main naturally occurring intoxicating part of the cannabis plant and people typically experience a high after consuming or smoking delta-9 THC beyond a certain threshold.

Under S.B. 326, the Ohio Investigative Unit would enforce this piece of legislation if it were to become law, with the assistance of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

The Ohio Department of Commerce Director (who is currently Sheryl Maxfield) could impose an administrative penalty against someone who sells intoxicating hemp products—$10,000 for a first violation, $25,000 for a second violation and $50,000 for a third violation.

Violating the proposed law would be a first degree misdemeanor on a first offense and a fifth degree felony for a second offense, according to the bill’s language. It would be a fifth degree felony if someone sold intoxicating hemp to someone under 21.

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Shady Election Groups Dumps 90,000 Ballot Registrations in Maricopa County Before Sign-Up Deadline Ends – At Least 40,000 Damaged, Thousands Incomplete

In case you have not been paying attention – leftist groups around the country have been caught corrupting our elections by dumping tens of thousands of bogus ballot registrations into our voter rolls. This is taking place in state after state.

PENNSYLVANIA

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania city officials announced eight days ago that they were investigating a massive fraudulent voter registration operation investigation involving thousands of fraudulent voter registrations. At least 2,500 ballot registrations were in question.

On Saturday, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania announced that they were also investigating hundreds of fake ballot registrations that were turned in recently by a questionable voter registration group. Lancaster, Monroe and York Counties in Pennsylvania have reported similar criminal acts and they are investigating. At least two counties reported that Field+Media Corps was behind the thousands of fraudulent registrations. The ballot registration harvesting group is based in Arizona.

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Ohio child welfare agency secretly tracking sexual orientation and transgender identity of children

An Ohio child welfare agency has made a database tracking the sexual orientation, transgender identity and pronouns of children who communicated with the agency.

The Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) developed a supposed “confidential spreadsheet” that monitored the sexual orientations and transgender identities of children.

The report, which describes a document acquired by the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF), spotlights the extent to which some government agencies entrusted with the protection of children have been captured by trans activists.

The document features entries dated from March 2018 to August 2024 and the spreadsheet was part of the agency’s “Safe Identification” program, which teaches social services personnel how to gather information about the sexuality and gender identity of children.

The DCNF discovered that the Cuyahoga County DCFS was one of four social service agencies in the United States “chosen to research, develop and evaluate transgender ideology-based child welfare interventions that suggest parents and caregivers who do not affirm a child’s sexual orientation or gender confusion are unsafe and may need to have their children removed from their home.”

Members of President Joe Biden’s administration called the Cuyahoga County group “trailblazers” and wished to nationalize their model.

The Cuyahoga County DCFS team influenced the recently completed Biden order, which requires child welfare systems to approve and support gender confusion. Staff members described the confidential spreadsheet as their means of “assisting” children acquire gender treatments. They also shared that some of the children they tracked were as young as five years old.

They tracked if children were “transgender or gender diverse,” naming them as pansexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, straight or “questioning” their sexual orientation.

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