by Daryl Davis

   (Plain Press January 2026) Governor Michael DeWine and the Ohio Republican majority in the legislature have attacked the hemp industry in Ohio with legislation that will re-criminalize hemp products such as hemp beverages, gummies, chocolates and vapes and place additional restrictions on recreational marijuana use. Promoting this legislation looks like a cynical attempt to ramp up incarceration rates for the private prison industry in Ohio.

NEWS ANALYSIS

   Philena Farley, Co-chair of the Ohio Green Party and Ohio delegate to the National Green Party, explains the incentives built into the State of Ohio’s prison contracts to increase the number of prisoners sent to private prisons. She says efforts to re-criminalize hemp products are about profit, not public safety.

   Farley offers five points to bolster her position

 1). Private prisons are contractually guaranteed occupancy: Major private prisons corporations (CoreCivic, GEO Group) have “lockup quotas” in their state contracts – typically 90-100% bed occupancy. If states fail to fill these beds, they owe millions in penalties. Example: Arizona paid CoreCivic $3 million in 2011 for empty beds. (Source: In the Public Interest, 2013). Example: Colorado paid GEO Group $2 million in 2016 for underfilled prisons. (Source: The Sentinel).

2. Crime has plummeted – but prison profits haven’t: Violent crime is down about 30% since 1991 (Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Rate data). Drug arrests (especially nonviolent) are the only incarceration driver. Cannabis legalization correlates with lower crime: States with legal cannabis saw 4-12% drop in violent crime (Cato Institute, 2021). Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the main psychoactive compound in marijuana reduces impulsivity and aggression (via serotonin modulation). (Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2019)

3. The 2018 Federal Farm Bill threatened the prison pipeline: The Farm Bill legalized hemp-derived ^8-THC (THC levels of 0.3% or less), creating a legal gray market. ^8 is less intoxicating than ^9 (THC levels of 0.3% or more) but still reduces demand for harder drugs (and related violence). Private prison stocks dipped 20-40% post-2018 as states began depopulating prisons. (Bloomberg Terminal data).

4. The crackdown is manufactured – not evidence – based: Ohio: After Issue 1 (2023) legalized cannabis, the Republican (GOP) legislature immediately gutted home grow and banned ^8 – citing “public safety” despite zero spike in crime. According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety Ohio’s violent crime rate is down 8% since 2020. The Federal Senate Bill 1098 (2024) seeks to re-criminalize all intoxicating hemp cannabinoids – pushed by the same lobbyists who fund the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). No data shows ^8 increases violence. In fact, Emergency Room visits for ^8 are < 1% of ^9. (Poison Control Data, 2023)

5. The real agenda: reverse de-incarceration: Private prisons need bodies. Legal cannabis = fewer arrests = empty beds=lawsuits against states. CoreCivic sued Ohio in 2022 for $10 million over low occupancy (Case 1:22-cv-00321). The solution? Manufacture a crisis around “intoxicating hemp” to re-criminalize a plant that’s already reduced incarceration by 20% in legal states. (ACLU, 2024).

   Speaking of the legislation to re-criminalize the use of hemp products in Ohio, Farley says, “This isn’t about public safety. It’s about profit.”

   Not only should private prisons not be dictating drug policy in Ohio, but they should not be awarded a “bonus” in the form of a contractually guaranteed profit. Just because this is done in other states, does not mean Ohio should do it. And, if that would result in “losing” a bid for a private prison, “So what?”

   It should mean that taxpayers don’t have to support a corrupt private prison industry, and maybe if legislators wanted to spend that amount of money anyway, they could appropriate it to improve the conditions for incarcerated persons that cause misery and violence at the state prisons, public and private.

   Instead of looking for effective prison policy and making decisions that will mitigate violence, the majority party in the Ohio House of Representatives in Columbus passed House Bill 338 that will result in increased incarceration to fill prisons if it becomes law. This ignores the named purpose of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections and is happening despite opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Office of the Public Defender, the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, and even the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

   HB338 passed to the Senate but no hearings have been scheduled in the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time of this publication.

   Contact your State Representative and State Senator to express your view and urge civic organizations to help address HB338. Urge candidates for State offices to take a position on this issue.

   On December 15, 2025, SB56 revising the law legalizing marijuana became an Act.  SB56, anticipates the Federal law, prohibiting “intoxicating Hemp” set to take effect on December 31, 2026, revokes many of the provisions of the original law passed in 2023, and contains provisions for criminal charges. Conspicuously, the greatest potential for felony charges falls on the unwary consumer who grows more than 12 plants per household or 6 plants per person or who is found with more than the specified limited product.For a summary of criminalization provisions in SB56 see The Marijuana Herald – Marijuana news and information or read the Legislative Services analysis for House Bill (HB) 56 at www.lsc.ohio.gov.

   Under S.B. 56, anyone who knowingly grows more than 12 plants per household or six per person can be charged with illegal cultivation of marijuana, which can range from a minor misdemeanor to felony charges. The Marijuana Herald – Marijuana news and information, (December 9, 2025).