Ohio’s ban on intoxicating hemp products, including THC and CBD beverages, took effect on 20 March after the 90-day grace period under Senate Bill 56 expired. The measure followed Mike DeWine, Governor of Ohio, signing the law on 31 December 2025 and line-item vetoing a provision that would have temporarily allowed low-dose THC drinks. For breweries and beverage suppliers, the change abruptly shut down a category that had become one of the most dynamic growth areas between alcohol and non-alcohol alternatives.
Among the businesses hit immediately are Urban Artifact and Fifty West Brewing Co. In Cincinnati, Scott Hand, founder of Urban Artifact, said the company can no longer make or sell its Coastalo hemp soda in Ohio. At Fifty West, Bobby Slattery, founder of the brewery, said the final stocks of Sunflower THC Seltzer were moved to Kentucky before the deadline, where the drinks remain legal. He said the brand sold more than 30,000 cases in 2025 and generated about USD 1.5 million last year, with sales on pace to reach about USD 3 million in 2026. According to Slattery, the product had grown so quickly that it was approaching beer volumes at his brewery.
The industry argues the ban threatens jobs, investment and a consumer segment increasingly looking for alternatives to traditional alcohol. Slattery said the restrictions are already affecting employment at his own business and at other craft brewers in the state. Joey Ellwood, hemp farmer in Tuscarawas County, said around 6,000 Ohio businesses could be affected, while Mark Fashian, president of Midwest Analytical Solutions, said he had been supplying more than 500 stores in the state and was forced to move business activity elsewhere. Supporters of the sector also argue that many consumers use these drinks not as intoxicants in the classic sense, but as substitutes for alcohol or other products tied to stress, sleep and pain management.
State officials and backers of the law take the opposite view. Dan Tierney, deputy director for the governor’s office, said long-term job losses should be limited because production lines can return to beer and other established beverages. The Ohio Cannabis Coalition welcomed the law, with David Bowling, executive director of the organization, arguing that it closes a loophole that allowed intoxicating THC products to be sold too broadly and improves public safety. Supporters of the restrictions say the market needed firmer regulation and tighter controls on product access.
The legal pushback has so far failed to stop enforcement. A separate lawsuit filed in Franklin County sought emergency relief, with plaintiffs including Saucy Seltzer, Uncle Arnie’s, Organic Pharma Techs and Amy Ellwood warning that businesses could face irreparable harm or even felony exposure without a pause. At the same time, Fifty West Brewing Co., Urban Artifact, Cycling Frog and Sarene Craft Beer Distributors challenged the governor’s line-item veto before the Ohio Supreme Court. On 20 March, however, the court dismissed that brewery-led emergency action without a written opinion, meaning no pause was ordered as the restrictions took effect. Sharon L. Kennedy, Chief Justice of the court, said in a partial dissent that she would have allowed the matter to proceed, while Patrick DeWine did not participate.
The outcome leaves breweries, bars and retailers facing a sudden reset in a segment that had benefited from changing drinking habits, especially among younger adults seeking options between beer and fully non-alcoholic drinks. Industry critics of the law argue the ban may push consumers toward cross-border purchases or unregulated markets rather than eliminating demand. For Ohio’s brewing trade, the immediate effect is clear: a fast-expanding adjacent beverage category has been removed overnight, with producers now forced to redirect stock, reconsider staffing and return to conventional beer or other legal innovations.
