A Sandusky County Court of Common Pleas judge has found Ohio's Senate Bill 56—which restricts the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids to licensed marijuana dispensaries—likely unconstitutional, issuing a temporary restraining order blocking the Fremont Police Department and "all who may act in concert with them" from enforcing it through April 28.
The case was brought by Seattle-based Cycling Frog, a hemp cannabinoid beverage company that distributes products throughout Ohio, including Sandusky County. Judge Jeremiah Ray ruled that SB 56 appears to violate the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by giving the state's licensed marijuana dispensaries an effective monopoly over federally legal hemp-derived products. Congress voted last November to sharply restrict hemp-derived cannabinoids, though that federal law does not take effect until November 2026.
"The practical effect is to immunize Ohio's in-state marijuana industry, which Ohio law requires to have an in-state physical presence, from out-of-state competition with respect to federally legal hemp products otherwise sold in interstate commerce," Ray wrote. He also found that the law discriminates against in-state businesses: "This is because the licensed dispensaries and their attendant supply chain benefit from a lack of competition from either inside or outside Ohio. This is, thus, inherently discriminatory on its face."
Cycling Frog's attorney, Andy Mayle, has asked Ray to expand the order into a class action blocking all Ohio law enforcement agencies from enforcing SB 56. "That's the next step in the case," Mayle said. "If he does, then basically the bill—with respect to the traditional hemp industry—will not be enforceable in Ohio." Mayle argued that Ohio had criminalized interstate commerce by reclassifying federally legal hemp products as marijuana when sold outside the licensed dispensary system, a domain reserved for Congress, not the states.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) filed a motion to intervene, arguing he has standing to defend SB 56 and that uniform statewide enforcement is required. Yost cited a parallel Franklin County Court of Common Pleas case involving Saucy Seltzer, where a different judge denied a TRO on March 19 but scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for April 10.
The Ohio Cannabis Coalition, representing the state's licensed marijuana industry, defended the law. "SB 56 was meant to protect Ohioans from unsafe, untested products. The Ohio legislature and federal government are in line on this issue," said executive director David Bowling.
This story was first published by The American Hemp Monitor.