An Ohio judge has temporarily halted Gov. Mike DeWine’s attempt to impose a short-term statewide ban on “intoxicating” hemp products, ruling that the governor overstepped his authority by effectively rewriting state law.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Carl Aveni on Tuesday granted a 14-day restraining order preventing the enforcement of DeWine’s executive order, which sought to prohibit sales of hemp products containing psychoactive compounds such as delta-8 THC and THC-A. The judge said the order was “antithetical” to the state’s existing definition of hemp under Ohio law.
“The court is concerned the governor is adding new definitions that don’t exist,” Aveni said during the hearing. “The separation of powers is not a matter of convenience. The court urges the General Assembly to exercise its own, separate constitutional authority—and to do so without delay.”
The ruling came less than a week after three Ohio-based hemp businesses filed a lawsuit challenging DeWine’s 90-day ban, arguing that the governor’s order amounted to unilateral lawmaking. They contended that any changes to hemp regulation must come from the legislature, not the executive branch.
DeWine issued the emergency order last Tuesday, declaring an “adulterated consumer product emergency” and giving retailers until that morning to remove all “intoxicating hemp” products from their shelves. The move would have effectively redefined hemp in Ohio to exclude items capable of producing a high, even if they contained less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC—the legal threshold under both federal and state law.
“It is absolutely absurd that a 14-year-old, a 13-year-old can walk into a store and buy this stuff,” DeWine said in defense of his order. “It’s never what anybody intended.”
The dispute underscores a growing tension between state executives and legislatures nationwide as they grapple with how to regulate hemp-derived intoxicants that exist in the gray area created by Congress’s 2018 Farm Bill.
DeWine acknowledged in a statement following Aveni’s ruling that the decision “underscores our continued desire to work with the General Assembly.” Lawmakers are expected to revisit the issue when they return to session later this fall.
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