COLUMBUS, Ohio—it was a busy day for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost as he rolled out a new marijuana testing system to help law enforcement differentiate between illegal marijuana, and recently-legal hemp.
- Ohio AG department will fund testing for large-scale busts
- Currently, the possession of 100 grams or less of marijana is not an arrestable offense
- If you’re found with a large amount of weed or hemp, law enforcement must determine which one it is
Since the legalization of hemp, law enforcement has run into some trouble.
For one, drug-sniffing dogs can’t tell the difference between marijuana and hemp.
Hemp is categorized as a having no more than point three percent THC.
Since it’s impossible to know THC content without testing it, Yost's department will fund testing for large-scale busts.
He says as of right now, possession of 100 grams or less of marijuana is not an arrestable offense.
That means if you are found with a large amount of either weed or hemp, it’s up to law enforcement to determine which one it is.
“They never have to say ‘well that’s not marijuana, it’s hemp’, and we have to prove that it’s marijuana and not hemp, and that’s the way it should be,” said Yost. “I gladly accept the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt… that’s the way we do it in America”
They’re rolling out three new testing instruments in labs in Richfield, London, and Bowling Green.