DID OHIO LAWMAKERS ACCIDENTALLY PASS A LAW THAT DECRIMINALIZES MARIJUANA? LAW ENFORCEMENT THINK SO

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 57 into law last week, and now it appears marijuana may have become legal in The Buckeye State.

The law has actually created confusion for law enforcement around the state, and the capital city of Columbus has stated it will not prosecute misdemeanor marijuana cases, according to WBNS 10TV.

SB 57 allows Ohio farmers to grow hemp as a new revenue source. The law says hemp is excluded from the legal definition of marijuana—depending on the amount of THC—the chemical in marijuana that gets someone high.

If a given sample has a THC level of 0.3 percent or lower, it is considered hemp and is legal. But if the sample shows a THC level greater than 0.3, it is marijuana, which is illegal.

Jason Pappas, the vice president of the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, said the average person will not know how to distinguish levels of THC, which puts law enforcement officials in a quandary.

“Now we have to be able to distinguish the difference between hemp and marijuana,” Pappas said. “That is not possible for a human being to do. That has to be done through crime analysis.”

The dilemma? Crime labs in Ohio, including the BCI state crime lab and Columbus police lab, don’t measure the quantity of THC, only the presence of it. [Read More @ Newsweek]