OH Hemp, Weed Crackdown; MA Psilocybin Bills Advance (12/29/25)

Ohio tightens the screws on cannabis, while Bay State lawmakers lean toward loosening up on magic mushrooms.

Psilocybin mushrooms. Bills to allow their therapeutic use are moving in Massachusetts. (Pixabay)

Ohio Governor Signs Bill Cracking Down on Hemp, Marijuana. Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has signed into law a bill that establishes new penalties around the possession of legal marijuana and for the first time taxes and regulates intoxicating hemp products. That measure is Senate Bill 56.

Although DeWine signed a 2019 law allowing the unregulated hemp industry to take hold in the state, he has called repeatedly for lawmakers to end a system that evolved to allow the sale of intoxicating hemp candies with no age or location limitations. With this new law, such products will be sold only to people 21 and over and only at licensed cannabis dispensaries. This will put intoxicating hemp products in direct competition with marijuana, which voters legalized over Republican opposition in 2022.

Heeding calls from the industry, lawmakers carved out a temporary exception for intoxicating hemp beverages. But DeWine vetoed that, saying: "No one intended this hemp law to open the door to basically unlimited THC. I think that my veto is consistent with that."

While the bill also allows the continued use, possession, and sale of marijuana, it creates new criminal punishments for people who fail to keep it in its original packaging or who buy it legally out-of-state. It also removes legal protections for users in termsof employment, health care access, professional licensure and child
custody.

Massachusetts Magic Mushroom Bills Advance. A pair of bills that would allow the limited use and possession of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have advanced out of the Joint Committee on Public Health.

Lawmakers approved House Bill 2532 from state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (D-Northampton), which would establish a framework for psilocybin therapy via a statewide pilot program.

They also okayed House Bill 2506 from Rep. Steven Owens (D-Watertown), which would decriminalize the possession of up to two ounces of psilocybin for people 21 and over who are veterans, law enforcement officers, or diagnosed with conditions that could be aided by psilocybin therapy.

The progress in the legislature comes after state voters failed to approve an initiative last year that would have legalized and regulated some psychedelics.