March 19 marked the last day of sales at a two-year-old Kent store – because of a state law banning most of the products the business sells.
Dave Keller owns Paper & Leaf, which specializes in the sale of hemp-derived THC products at its stores in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and – until now – Kent, Ohio.
“Effectively, everything that we sell within that store will become classified as marijuana come Friday – tomorrow,” Keller said March 19. “And as a consequence, we have to discontinue operations in totality.”
Paper & Leaf closes at 8 p.m. on March 19, Keller said. Until then, it’s running a storewide buy one, get one 50% off deal, according to store signage. Customers will get 10% off purchases of $100 or more and 20% off on purchases of $200 or more, as long as the total purchase is $500 or less.
Four employees who work at the Paper & Leaf’s roughly 3,000-square-foot store at 168 Cherry St. in Kent “are unfortunately going to become unemployed,” Keller said.
Ohioans for Cannabis Choice didn’t collect enough signatures for its proposed referendum on Senate Bill 56, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed in December, The Columbus Dispatch reported March 18. The law, which takes effect March 20, restricts hemp-derived cannabis products, bans THC beverages at bars and breweries, and changes the recreational marijuana law approved by voters in 2023.
Senate Bill 56 mirrors a new federal law and bans hemp products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container and synthetic substances such as delta-8 THC. Proponents say it closes a loophole that allowed unregulated forms of cannabis to explode in CBD stores, gas stations and smoke shops.
Keller said he was clearing everything out of the store the night of March 19 and transferring it to Paper & Leaf’s Pennsylvania and Kentucky stores.
Paper & Leaf, he said, verifies ages to make sure all customers are 21 or older, and the store markets its products toward adults.
Keller said he believes regulation is needed in the hemp industry and that he’s advocated for it.
“I personally have been involved in lobby efforts in the state of Ohio, effectively begging for regulation on these products,” Keller said. “And it has been met with effectively deaf ears.”
Mustard Seed sold most THC drinks by mid-afternoon March 19
Bill Krauss, category manager for wine, beer and cheese at Mustard Seed Market & Café, said he and his colleagues are “pretty upset” about the ban.
Krauss said he thought ahead of time to discontinue orders of THC drinks in case the referendum failed. By mid-afternoon on March 19, the Mustard Seed in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood no longer had any of the drinks, he said. And by that same time, the other Mustard Seed location in the Montrose shopping area of Bath only had about 30 or 35 drinks left.
“I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have the big inventory because it’s illegal to even have it, let alone sell it,” Krauss said. “And we had heard that they were going to come out and inspect stores, and if they found that you had the product, you were in violation of the law because you actually possessed hemp-based THC that wasn’t in a dispensary.”
To fill up space THC beverages previously took in Mustard Seed’s beer cooler, Krauss said, “… we just started ordering new beer a long time ago and stockpiling.”
“There’s a million different IPAs out there,” he said.
The store also has filled cooler space with kava, hard kombucha, ciders and ready-to-drink cocktails, Krauss said.
The primary demographic of THC drink customers at the Montrose store have been women around the 55-to-60 retirement age, Krauss said.
“A lot of them were just saying, ‘Yeah, this is relaxation,’ and ‘I feel better,’ ‘I sleep better,'” Krauss said. “I’ve got some people that come in here, and they’ll say, ‘Well, I had fibromyalgia,’ or ‘I had shingles’ and ‘My doctor said maybe I should try this.’
“So, it’s like legislation written by guys that are sitting around drinking bourbon and smoking cigars and telling me I can’t do something that’s not poison.”
State government reporter Haley BeMiller contributed to this report. She can be reached at hbemiller@usatodayco.com or @haleybemiller on X.
Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X @pwilliamsOH. Sign up for the Beacon Journal’s business and consumer newsletter, “What’s The Deal?”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: State ban on THC drinks, products spells end of Kent specialty store
Reporting by Patrick Williams, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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