Judge puts temporary hold on DeWine’s intoxicating hemp ban

A judge in Franklin County has temporarily blocked Gov. Mike DeWine’s short-term ban on intoxicating hemp products (Source: “Ohio judge blocks Gov. DeWine's ban on hemp for at least two weeks,” Statehouse News Bureau, Oct. 14).
 
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Carl Aveni granted a 14-day restraining order in the case from the bench Tuesday, saying the state order was “antithetical” to the existing definition of hemp in the Ohio Revised Code.
 
“The court is concerned the governor is adding new definitions that don’t exist,” Aveni said Tuesday.
 
In a lawsuit filed last Wednesday, three Ohio-based hemp businesses argued DeWine was acting outside his authority by announcing a 90-day ban on hemp products with psychoactive ingredients, like delta-8 THC or THC-A. Aveni largely agreed.
 
Just hours before the lawsuit was filed, DeWine signed an executive order that sought to redefine hemp by excluding “intoxicating hemp” from the Ohio Revised Code’s definition of hemp, and declared an adulterated consumer product emergency. That emergency declaration gave retailers statewide until Tuesday morning to clear their shelves of any products fitting that definition.