An Ohio judge has thrown a legal wrench into the state’s new crackdown on intoxicating hemp drinks, handing a quick but narrow win to local retailers and a Seattle beverage maker caught in the crossfire.
A Sandusky County court has temporarily barred Fremont officers from enforcing Ohio’s fresh ban on intoxicating hemp beverages, after a challenge from North Fork Distribution, the company behind the Cycling Frog drink line. The order pauses seizures and penalties while the lawsuit plays out and zeroes in on a core gripe from critics summed up in four words: “THC is THC.”
Judge Jeremiah S. Ray issued a temporary restraining order that blocks enforcement of the hemp portion of Senate Bill 56 and wrote that the statute “is thus inherently discriminatory on its face,” according to Cleveland.com. North Fork Distribution I LLC, the Seattle-based company that distributes Cycling Frog, sued Fremont’s police chief and a detective in an effort to stop local enforcement. For now the ruling gives hemp shops and their supply chain partners in the area a measure of breathing room while the court weighs whether the law can stand.
What the order covers
The restraining order bars Fremont police and “all who may act in concert with them” from enforcing the ban, language that the court said also protects distributors, warehousing operations and logistics companies that move Cycling Frog products, as reported by News5Cleveland. Attorneys for North Fork are asking the court to certify the lawsuit as a class action, a step that could expand the reach of any injunction beyond Sandusky County. Industry groups say the ruling could serve as a playbook for similar challenges to the statute in other corners of Ohio.
Legal stakes
The lawsuit leans heavily on a constitutional argument that S.B. 56 stacks the deck in favor of Ohio’s licensed marijuana industry by keeping chemically similar hemp beverages off the shelves, a potential violation of the dormant Commerce Clause flagged by national trade publications and legal analysts, according to MJBizDaily. The Ohio Attorney General’s office has moved to intervene in the case, signaling that the state intends to defend the law aggressively, per Cleveland.com. If a judge extends the injunction statewide or allows the case to proceed as a class action, enforcement of S.B. 56 could be on hold for months while courts sort out the constitutional questions.
How the law changed and why sellers are worried
Senate Bill 56, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in December, overhauled Ohio’s marijuana and hemp rules and stripped out a previously discussed carveout that would have allowed certain THC beverages to remain legal, according to the Ohio Senate’s summary of the bill. One outlet documented the backlash from small brewers, convenience stores and hemp retailers that had come to rely on drinkable cannabinoid products as a key revenue stream. With enforcement now paused in Sandusky County, many shop owners say they are still unsure what they can safely keep on their shelves this spring.
The case returned to court for a status hearing last Thursday, and the temporary restraining order is set to remain in place through April 28 unless the judge changes course sooner, according to The Marijuana Herald. Until then, Cycling Frog and other hemp drink sellers can continue operating in Sandusky County while judges and lawmakers wrestle with a bigger question: whether Ohio’s intoxicating beverage market will belong mostly to licensed dispensaries or stay open to interstate hemp products.
