Ohio Gov. signs executive order declaring emergency for items containing intoxicating hemp.

Gov. Mike DeWine Wednesday signed an executive order declaring an Adulterated Consumer Product Emergency for consumable items containing intoxicating hemp. The order directs Ohio retailers to stop selling all intoxicating hemp products by next Tuesday. Under Ohio Revised Code, the governor may declare such an emergency when there is reason to believe a product has been adulterated and poses a threat to public health and safety. According to the governor’s office, “clandestine chemists” have been producing intoxicating hemp by altering compounds found in legal, non-intoxicating hemp plants to create intoxicating substances such as delta-8-THC and delta-9-THC – compounds also found in marijuana.