You ever feel like the people writing cannabis laws have never grown a plant, loved a patient, or paid a license fee? Yeah. Welcome to SB 56 in Ohio, the latest Trojan Horse bill dressed up like “public safety” but built to crush patients, consumers, and the small cannabis community that made this plant movement possible. 

Let’s rip the mask off.

On Wednesday, June 4th over 40 Ohioans either showed up in person/submitted written testimony against the Senate Bill 56 which many say go against the will of the voters. People of all walks of life spoke, long time activists to first timers.

It was clear the people of Ohio were not happy with this bill or any amends of this bill. SB 56 or any pheno of this bill needs to go! It was truly awesome as a third party viewer watching people speak against this bill. Let’s break down some of the many issues with this steaming pile of garbage of a bill. 

SB 56 is trying to fence us in, literally. 

The bill would mandate that any outdoor cultivation be surrounded by a *“tamper-resistant, commercial-grade, six-foot fence that obscures the view of cannabis.” Sounds simple until you realize that means thousands of dollars in upfront costs for anyone just trying to grow their medicine in peace. (almost exact wording people in Maine have fought against before as well) 

We’re not talking about corporate grows with million-dollar security budgets. We’re talking patients and caregivers with one greenhouse, some raised beds, and a dream of staying compliant without going bankrupt and a little headstash for the cold Ohio winters. 

This isn’t about safety. It’s about pushing home grow into extinction and handing over the keys to Big Weed, but this isn’t a new storyline, we have seen this exact storyline pan out in other states, which gave the people of Ohio time to prepare for their legislation battles ahead. 

You think the state loves seeing caregivers help each other out? Think again. 

SB 56 doubles down on bans against caregiver collectives, even within the same building. They’re using zoning laws and technicalities to kill off shared grow ops, storefronts, and any grassroots collaboration. Why? Because unity is a threat to the vertically integrated monopoly model they’re quietly building behind closed doors. 

Corporate cannabis can have multi-million-dollar warehouses and lobbyists. But God forbid two caregivers share a building to cut costs and support each other. That’s apparently too dangerous.

Let’s be real: none of this helps the patient community. 

Every extra cost, every compliance trap, every inch of red tape gets passed on to the end user. That’s the person with Crohn’s who can’t afford $60 eighths. That’s the cancer patient who needs full-spectrum oil but can’t find it in the rec market. That’s the vet who just wants a grow tent and some clones without Big Brother crawling up their trellis. 

If you follow the money, you’ll find this bill is a love letter to corporate cannabis. It’s full of “public safety” language, but under the hood, it’s about power, control, and keeping the plant in the hands of people who see it as a product not a medicine, not a sacrament, not a lifeline.

And in reality the government needs cannabis more than cannabis needs the government. Any law created that deems too strictrived or limited the market only creates a larger illicit market in which it will thrive. BECAUSE, the government needs more cannabis more than cannabis needs the government. 

This is step one in a bigger fight. When you go home today, don’t just scroll up. Speak up. Because if we don’t fight for this plant, the people who never gave a damn about it will write us out of the story completely. 

We built this culture. And we’re not going anywhere.

Images Courtsey of: @ohiocannabislive and @ebthc

Derek Shirley was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 19, he received a felony for 4 ounces of cannabis. After, he became a “cannabis nomad”  living in Ohio, Arizona, and Maine, which he now calls home, and lives with his wife Sequoia and son Haze.

Being a cannabis nomad had its advantages, like relying on all markets for his medical cannabis needs which gives him a unique perspective of the cannabis markets. Currently, he is an influential pro-cannabis activist in the state of Maine who helps local people and small businesses navigate their local and state governments without picking a political party specializing in protecting and preserving the small medical cannabis farmers of Maine. For fun, Derek enjoys screen printing and making cannabis memes under the pseudonym @gettinghighwithcats on IG

You can find more of Dereks articles at Beard Bros Pharms here.