Hemp beverage manufacturers file Ohio Supreme Court suit over DeWine veto

Four businesses with stakes in Ohio’s hemp beverage industry have mounted a court challenge to Gov. Mike DeWine’s rejection of a grace period that would have allowed the sale of intoxicating hemp beverages through the end of the year (Source: “DeWine hemp beverage veto challenged in Ohio Supreme Court,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 11).
 
When the governor signed Senate Bill 56 into law in December — the sweeping legislation that regulates intoxicating hemp products and adjusts Ohio’s recreational marijuana laws — he vetoed a provision allowing the sale of popular hemp beverages containing up to 5 milligrams of THC per serving, a common dosage amount.
 
The suit before the Ohio Supreme Court – an emergency filing by Fifty West Brewing Co. of Cincinnati, Grayscale Brewing of Cincinnati, North Fork Distribution I of Seattle, and Sarene Craft Beer Distributors of Grove City— labels the governor’s action as “lawless.”