OHA in the Columbus Dispatch
State lawmakers and regulators moved surprisingly fast after that, said Tom Haren, vice president of the Ohio Hemp Association.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill into law last summer to create a hemp licensing program. Then the Ohio Department of Agriculture drafted rules and submitted them to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for approval, which was received just as 2019 came to a close. All that’s left to do before the state issues licenses to farmers is for state lawmakers to sign off on the regulations at a Jan. 16 meeting.
“There was candidly a lot of concern that Ohio would lose out on the 2020 growing season just by how long it takes to put rules in place. This is a real testament to the hard work the folks at ODA did,” Haren said. “They really set Ohio up to be what we hope it will be, which is a leader in the hemp industry.”
