COLUMBUS – Governor Mike DeWine has signed a bill that allows for the cultivation of industrial hemp and legalizes the manufacture and sale of CBD products derived from the plant.
Ohio Department of Agriculture director Dorothy Palenda will put the first hemp plants to be grown by the state for research purposes into the ground at the department’s Reynoldsburg headquarters on Thursday.
Ohio’s leading farm group applauded signing of the bill, which removes hemp from the controlled substances list, on Tuesday.
The Ohio Farm Bureau says industrial hemp will give farmers another crop option and potential revenue stream that could offset “years of declining commodity prices.”
The federal government legalized hemp cultivation last year.
Hemp contains only trace amounts of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol found in marijuana, another plant in the cannabis family. CBD products, which are touted for their therapeutic effects, can contain just .3% THC under the new law, which will go into effect immediately due to an emergency clause.
Ohio’s Department of Agriculture must create rules for a hemp program before farmers can begin planting.
The hemp program establishes a licensing structure for farmers interested in growing or processing the crop and allows for universities to grow and cultivate the crop for research purposes.
The department will be in charge of testing CBD and hemp products for safety and accurate labeling, Palenda said.