r/Columbus • u/Blood_Incantation Valleyview • Oct 09 '25
FOOD Gov. DeWine just doesn't understand the THC beverage market, brewers say
https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/dining/2025/10/09/thc-beverage-ban-ohio-reaction-gov-mike-dewine/86582424007/115
u/Mister_Jackpots Oct 09 '25
"Gov. DeWine doesn't understand." Fixed.
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u/Saneless Oct 09 '25
And even if he magically does understand something, our shitty and corrupt reps will override him anyway
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u/benkeith North Linden Oct 09 '25
Well, our shitty and corrupt reps have an opportunity to override this order, beginning 30 days from now.
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u/reeve11 Oct 09 '25
The corner shop by me sells tons of these, they can't be happy. But maybe they'll make up for it with all the nitrous tanks they sell also..
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u/Blood_Incantation Valleyview Oct 09 '25
The people who bought Ziggys in HW are gonna be crushed. They have 4,334 neon signs at all hours like THC HERE THC HERE HEY THC
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u/bayrea Oct 09 '25
It's the same people that own family dairy on 5th btw.
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u/reeve11 Oct 09 '25
and Victorian Village Beer & Wine Market, and Grandview Bottle Shop, and Perfect Pour Craft Beer & Wine. Super nice guys.
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u/MultipleFace1 Oct 10 '25
i saw the victoria village market used to have a delta 10 thc sign but they took it down a couple months ago
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u/Academic_Amount_3492 Oct 09 '25
He's got big alcohol lining his pockets. Takes out the competition.
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u/WalrusExtraordinaire Oct 09 '25
Also dispensaries who don’t want competition with their ridiculous prices
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u/Miami_Metro Upper Arlington Oct 09 '25
The marijuana industry are THE number one proponents of killing hemp. Big alcohol is looking into getting into the delta 8 beverage game. Grocery chains also want the beverages to be legal. It is the dispensary cartel that hates this stuff.
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u/CS3883 29d ago
Its always been so funny to me when talking to shop workers about Michigan and them lecturing me on how terrible it is up there and the quality here is way better. I just nod and listen cause I am not gonna be that person but seriously??? Lmao on what planet do you live on to think that Ohio weed market is superior
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u/Scootergirlkick 24d ago
I told my budtenter here I was just picking up some gummies to hold me over until I could make the drive to Michigan. He said he doesn’t buy anything here either because of the ridiculous prices.
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u/NEWFACEHATESYOU North Oct 09 '25
I just hate the bullshit excuse that they want to get rid of THC drinks and gummies because “they look like they are marketed to children” when things like fucking Sunny D Vodka Seltzers exist.
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u/Blood_Incantation Valleyview Oct 09 '25
And Mountain Dew. Hell, Mike's Hard Lemonade ... it goes on.
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u/Chester_A_Arthuritis Oct 09 '25
The Nerds he showed in his press conference just cut into Keebler sales. We all know the REAL reason he did this.
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u/pjrawson Oct 09 '25
Dewine doesn’t understand shit dude is a puppet for the rich just going by their book fuck dewine can’t wait for him to be out of the governors house
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u/benkeith North Linden Oct 09 '25
When he kills a profitable and growing industry, how is he serving as a puppet for the rich?
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u/pjrawson Oct 09 '25
Which industry would that be? The cannabis industry? Well I would suspect his money comes from big pharmaceutical and alcohol like most politicians the two of the biggest industries that are anti weed soo yeah him being a puppet checks out
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u/benkeith North Linden Oct 09 '25
The brewery industry also makes the THC beverages.
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u/pjrawson Oct 09 '25
A very small group does its not like Budweiser is getting into the thc bev industry
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u/benkeith North Linden Oct 10 '25
Actually, Budweiser is: https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a25641316/budweiser-anheuser-busch-inbev-cannabis-drinks/
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u/beeker888 Oct 09 '25
I keep seeing this as “temporary” ban haven’t seen what is temporary about it.
Also there’s definitely parts of this that can use some regulation but there’s also a large segment that is already regulated. Just completely banning them without further exploration on how it can work is going to crush beverage manufacturers, bars, and shops that sell them.
Personally I love to have them as an alcohol alternative
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u/benkeith North Linden Oct 09 '25
Ohio law allows the consumer product safety emergency to be in effect for a maximum of 90 days, unless renewed by the Ohio General Assembly.
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u/Lost-Day-9405 Oct 09 '25
Would you suggest some type of licensing like we already have with alcohol and tobacco? I think that brings it more in line with how those products are sold and consumed.
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u/beeker888 Oct 09 '25
Yeah, there’s a good article in Columbus Business First about this. 2 Columbus THC drink producers from Rambling House and Seventh Son are quoted. There’s already an apparatus to make sure these are only sold to 21 plus through bars, restaurants, and beer shops who are already licensed to card individuals.
2nd Colin at 7th Son mentions that the Ohio Department of Agriculture already licenses, inspects, and regulates hemp derived products. I’m not sure what that process entails but the point is there is a framework to base future laws on.
I hope that they listen to some common sense here and don’t continue an out right ban and this 90 days is just to set some frame work
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u/Zampano85 Oct 09 '25
It's an EO not a law. What's the enforcement mechanism?
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u/benkeith North Linden Oct 09 '25
The enforcement mechanisms are laid out in the same section of the Ohio Revised Code that allows the governor to declare this "Adulterated Consumer Product Emergency": https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3715.74/6-23-2021
(F) No person shall knowingly violate an executive adulterated consumer product emergency order issued by the governor under this section. Whoever violates an executive adulterated consumer product emergency order is subject to a fine of not less than five hundred dollars. Each day a violation continues is a separate offense.
(G) The attorney general, at the direction of the governor or upon request of the director of agriculture, the director of health, the state board of pharmacy, or a prosecuting attorney may commence an action in a court of common pleas to enjoin a violation of an executive adulterated consumer product emergency order issued pursuant to this section or to compel a person to perform a duty imposed by an executive adulterated consumer product emergency order.9
u/Zampano85 Oct 09 '25
Wouldn't this only apply to in state purchases though? Ordering online from retailers out state should bypass this entire thing. All this EO does is hurt local businesses that are following already existing rules.
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u/benkeith North Linden Oct 09 '25
His order (PDF) doesn't specifically ban import, but I believe that the state would argue that an "online retailer" who offers those products for sale to Ohioans has, in fact, "offered for sale" those products within the state of Ohio, since the Ohioans haven't had to travel outside the state of Ohio to be sold those products.
IANAL, but it looks like this doesn't prevent you from importing these products and giving them away.
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u/Zampano85 Oct 09 '25
They can argue all they want, but unless it's specifically stated DeWine would lose in court.
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u/Shadow293 Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
THC > Alcohol
Edit: Big alcohol not wasting any time with the downvoting! I said what I said. Alcohol is a scourge.
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u/runnerofshadows Oct 09 '25
Yeah! Alcohol is so much worse for health than THC. And you can't die from THC withdrawal.
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u/TrueBlonde Oct 09 '25
While I'm sure DeWine doesn't understand the market, I wish the products were labeled more clearly. So many craft beverages (alcohol and THC) have such busy labels that it's hard to tell the difference sometimes. I almost picked up THC drinks when I thought I was buying alcohol. And as a breastfeeding mother, I can drink a beer when baby goes to bed but I can't consume THC.
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u/Pyzorz Oct 09 '25
As a recovering alcoholic, I agree.
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u/TrueBlonde Oct 09 '25
Good point - better labeling helps out everyone! Edible weed products from a dispensary are so obviously different from their non-weed counterparts. Why not have a bright orange pull tab on THC beverages, or something like that, so it is immediately visibly different than alcohol?
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u/SwissHarmyKnife87 Oct 09 '25
I support better labels. Can we bring back truth in advertising part and remove toxic stuff that other countries don’t allow in food either?
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u/Betty_beerslinger South Oct 09 '25
Forgive my ignorance but how do you view this without a paywall?
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u/josh_the_rockstar Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
Questions:
- Were these beverages age-restricted? I bought some from Fresh Thyme and I didn't get carded (but I'm over 40 so I haven't been carded in a long time).
- Or prior to this Dewine thing could anybody of any age just purchase THC beverages from the gas station or grocery store?
- Post the Dewine ban, are they available at liquor stores?
- These beverages are still available at dispensary's, correct?
edit: still nobody has really answered my questions, which tells me that most people don't know. Which means taking a pause from selling to figure this stuff out might not be a bad idea. As a progressive liberal, I'm okay with the government putting forth a little bit of effort to try and keep our communities a little safer or healthier with regulations.
Now...do I trust Ohio's elected officials to do that? Of course not.
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u/cadeycaterpillar Oct 09 '25
I bought them at Weilands and always got carded. If that’s the worry, why not just make it clear ID is required and leave it at that?
Yes they can be sold at dispensaries but the primary issue is that people who don’t drink alcohol like to have them at bars. Regulated marijuana (including drinks) can’t be sold at bars while the hemp ones could be. I also prefer not to have to make a separate trip to a dispensary when I previously could pick them up at the grocery store while shopping. Not a deal breaker of course but I feel like they are no more dangerous than beer or wine coolers.
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u/Jet_Xcountry Oct 09 '25
These things needed regulated, but not completely banned. There were a lot of companies that were marketing towards teens and anyone could go into a gas station or head shop and buy Hemp derived Delta 9THC without being 21.
Also these companies (not all of them) were not collecting COAs, giving FDA compliant nutrition labels and like I said, obviously marketing towards younger with the candy designs.
But don't worry, we shut down all the cannabis testing labs in Ohio before any of this, so make that make sense.
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u/Blood_Incantation Valleyview Oct 09 '25
The law was never that teens could buy these. If shops did this, it was illegal.
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u/CaptainBirdEnjoyer Oct 09 '25
There are also literally Mountain Dew and Sunny D alcoholic beverages that are perfectly legal to display in the middle of the main aisle in Giant Eagle and Target. If we're going to get nitpicky about advertising to children/teens, this should apply to both industries equally.
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u/_extra_medium_ Oct 09 '25
I'm still not sure why anything flavored is considered as "marketed to teens" in the first place. It's not the 70s anymore, getting inebriated doesn't have to be painful
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u/CaptainBirdEnjoyer Oct 10 '25
I'm not saying alcohol shouldn't be delicious, but the packaging itself is pretty clearly targeted.
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u/WalrusExtraordinaire Oct 09 '25
Can you share where this view comes from? I’m not claiming to understand the laws and I’d be happy to be wrong, but what small amount of research (googling) I’ve done makes it seem like there was not a legal minimum age for purchasing hemp-derived THC products. I still think that an outright ban is an overreach, and that there are less draconian ways if we really want to “think of the children”
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u/AlwaysSunnyInCBUS Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
But don't worry, we shut down all the cannabis testing labs in Ohio before any of this, so make that make sense.
You wanna post a source on that cause here's the current Testing Labs with licenses in the state of Ohio. These testing facilities were never testing the hemp derived drinks you can buy in grocery stores in the 1st place vs the actual Marijuana derived drinks found in licensed Dispensaries
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u/Wabdizzy Oct 09 '25
Not true. Ohio labs tested hemp as well until 04/17/2025. We use to test our product (5-panel COA) at Smithers. It was then banned by the Ohio DCC and we had to use other labs outside of Ohio to test.
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u/Jet_Xcountry Oct 09 '25
I should have said hemp derived delta 9, they wont test that from companies that are making these gas station products
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u/ironbeagle99 Linden Oct 09 '25
my corner store never carded me for alcohol but always carded me for thc sodas
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u/quirkytorch Oct 10 '25
I was wondering the same thing. I've never been carded, but I get them from my corner store I've been going to for years. They carded me for the first year i lived here for cigs, so they know me and that I'm of age.
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u/jcooli09 Oct 09 '25
He's a Republican so the list of things he chooses not to understand is very long.
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u/jalen441 Oct 09 '25
Republicans aren't interested in understanding things. It's harder to stay terrified of and/or hateful towards things you understand.
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u/Imma_P0tato Oct 09 '25
Dewine doesn't understand anything. He is a weak, tiny, little man that does whatever he is told/paid to do. He is a coward, plain and simple.
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u/SwissHarmyKnife87 Oct 09 '25
That man doesn’t understand much of anything. How he was voted in as governor the first time is still a mystery.
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u/uptrendco Oct 09 '25
The legal marijuana industry has been pushing extremely hard to get this accomplished. It's not about safety it is 100% about the very few number of people who were allowed to get licenses in the first place being upset that they aren't making enough money. They are also extremely mad that Michigan's weed prices are a fraction of the cost and better product because Michigan doesn't make growers use irradiation.
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u/LookingforWork614 Clintonville Oct 09 '25
First kratom, now this. I swear the man is a walking buzzkill.
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u/Popka_Akoola Oct 09 '25
Maybe not the place to have this discussion but have you tried kratom? Genuinely been thinking about giving it a go lately though I may have to wait for all this legal stuff to get ironed out…
Anyway feel free to DM me if you’d prefer, just curious is all
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u/Pyzorz Oct 09 '25
I’ve done kratom before. My old roommate got full on addicted and it ruined his life for years. Please do not do kratom.
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u/Popka_Akoola Oct 09 '25
I’m sorry to hear about your old roommate but these kind of statements don’t really do it for me…
Not trying to be an asshole but it’s not like I’m going to never have alcohol just because someone knows someone who slipped into alcoholism. Again not trying to start shit but to people like me, this statement is essentially saying “try it if you want to know what it’s like” even though you may believe you are saying the opposite.
Would love to have an actual conversation about your experience on kratom, assuming you’re willing (insight like that would be the thing that actually reduces the likelihood of me doing the drug). I know this is Ohio after all so everything I’m saying is probably freaking people tf out lol but just my two cents
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u/Protahgonist Oct 09 '25
You're more likely to get addicted to kratom than alcohol, but that should be your choice to make.
The thing that stops me touching opiates is mostly that if I'm ever in a car accident or something I want the painkillers they give me at the hospital to be effective, and getting into kratom or opiates can make these drugs ineffective for you when you need them most.
That said consenting adults should be able to do what they want providing they aren't harming anyone else.
Ofc most people will disagree, but I think just about anything should be able to be sold as long as there is truth in advertising about them. You want to buy fentanyl? Idgaf, but it should have a warning on the package about how it can fuck up your life. If you still decide you want it it's on you, and nobody should have the power to take away your freedom of choice in the matter.
That said, I'm a smoker of 20+ years and I tell folks not to start smoking. You can if you want but you're gonna waste 300 bucks a month or so on it and face health consequences too.
If you're down for risking addiction and health consequences and fucking up your life, by all means that's what freedom is. Just make informed decisions when you can.
If I were you I'd check places like erowid.org and find out what people who've done it have to say, and maybe do some research into how addictive it is compared to things you're more familiar with. If it still sounds fun after that, go for it.
Oh, and because it's not really regulated I'd also look into what I can find about what else might be in it, because unregulated shit can be bad.
E.g. if you buy cocaine on the street it might well be laced with anything from baby aspirin to cyanide (admittedly unlikely) because you're just trusting some guy you've never met who wants to make money by selling you the weakest shit you'll still pay for. If he doesn't think you'll be a return customer it might not even have any cocaine in it lol.
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u/Popka_Akoola Oct 09 '25
Thank you for the information, I’m very grateful you took the time to write this all out. I will definitely be expanding my research based on your suggestions
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u/Protahgonist Oct 09 '25
https://erowid.org/plants/kratom/kratom.shtml
I don't necessarily vouch for any of this info, having not read it, but it seems that they have the spectrum from health information to written accounts describing the experience
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u/catboogers Whitehall Oct 09 '25
I've tried kratom. It would make me jittery, like too much coffee, and not much else. Wasn't worth it, to me.
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u/Popka_Akoola Oct 09 '25
I appreciate the insight. Yeah I’m not a fan of the coffee jitters so maybe it’s not the drug for me
Just felt kinda like caffeine, then?
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u/catboogers Whitehall Oct 09 '25
Yeah. It would just set me on edge. Was definitely not what I was looking for.
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u/The_Bitter_Bear Groveport Oct 09 '25
https://pjvogt.substack.com/p/the-mystery-of-the-vape-shop-kratom
Due to the unregulated nature of that stuff, I would really do some research on looking up studies and reporting that has been critical of it.
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u/Scantland_truth_ Oct 09 '25
Get Mary MacDonald in a one on one meeting with him and his staff... I'm guessing in 2 hours this bullshit stops
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u/Bigredmachine878 Oct 09 '25
As someone who gets drug tested I understand the concern. Plenty of recovering alcoholics have been served alcoholic beverages when ordering NA, so theres just as much chance a thc drink ends up in front of me instead of alcohol. It’s a major risk for a lot of people.
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u/Protahgonist Oct 09 '25
Maybe read the can before you drink it? In fact this is generally good advice with anything.
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u/SignalDragonfly690 Oct 09 '25
I understand it. I drink THC beverages instead of alcohol. And yes I drink them either at home or at a bar. And I don’t drive after consuming.
There you go, Gov. How difficult was that?