Columbus OVI/DUI Attorney Blog
The Ohio Senate passed a bill which could significantly change Ohio’s law prohibiting marijuana DUI (called ‘OVI’ in Ohio). Senate Bill 55, passed on October 8, 2025, would amend and limit the types of marijuana OVI charges. It would also revise the rules regarding evidence admissibility in marijuana OVI trials.
Proving Marijuana OVI Under the Current Law
Currently, Ohio Revised Code section 4511.19 prohibits four types of marijuana OVI:
- Operating A Vehicle Under The Influence Of Marijuana. To prove a defendant’s guilt, the prosecution must prove the person was under the influence: marijuana affected the person in a way which would impair that person’s ability to operate a vehicle.
- Operating a Vehicle With a Prohibited Concentration of Marijuana. The prosecution must prove the person operated a vehicle with a concentration of two nanograms of marijuana (or more) per milliliter of whole blood/serum/plasma or ten nanograms of marijuana (or more) per milliliter of urine.
- Operating a Vehicle With a Prohibited Concentration of Marijuana Metabolite. The prosecution must prove the person operated a vehicle with a concentration of 50 nanograms of marijuana (or more) per milliliter of blood or 35 nanograms of marijuana (or more) per milliliter of urine.
- Operating a Vehicle With a Prohibited Concentration of Marijuana Metabolite AND Under the Influence. The prosecution must prove marijuana affected the person in a way which would impair that person’s ability to operate a vehicle AND the person had a concentration of five nanograms of marijuana (or more) per milliliter of blood or 15 nanograms of marijuana (or more) per milliliter of urine.
Proving Marijuana OVI Under SB 55
If Senate Bill 55 becomes law, the types of marijuana OVI charges in Ohio will be revised in the following ways:
- Operating A Vehicle Under The Influence Of Marijuana. The named substance will change from ‘marijuana’ to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The prosecution still must prove the person was under the influence of THC. However, a jury may infer (without expert testimony) the person was under the influence if the person has: (a) a concentration of at least two nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood; (b) a concentration of at least 25 nanograms of THC per milliliter of urine; or (c) a concentration of at least five nanograms of THC per milliliter of oral fluid.
- Operating a Vehicle With a Prohibited Concentration of Marijuana. The prohibited substance will change from ‘marijuana’ to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The prohibited concentration for whole blood will change from two nanograms to five nanograms. There will be no offense based on testing of blood serum/plasma or urine.
- Operating a Vehicle With a Prohibited Concentration of Marijuana Metabolite. This part of the law will be deleted.
- Operating a Vehicle With a Prohibited Concentration of Marijuana Metabolite AND Under the Influence. This part of the law will be deleted.
Admissibility of Evidence Under SB 55
If Senate Bill 55 becomes law, additional language in Ohio Revised Code section 4511.19 will address the admissibility of evidence in marijuana OVI cases. A drug test introduced by the prosecution is subject to the Ohio Rules of Evidence. If a drug test is admitted as evidence, the defense can introduce evidence challenging the analysis, and the defendant may rebut the inference of being under the influence with evidence or testimony, as long as the evidence/testimony complies with the Ohio Rules of Evidence.
Analysis of SB 55
Senate Bill 55 is an improvement in Ohio’s marijuana OVI law. For reasons discussed elsewhere in this blog, Ohio should not prosecute people for driving with marijuana metabolites in their blood or urine, so it is great the new law would remove the two offenses based on marijuana metabolites. Although there is not a scientific basis for the prohibited concentrations used in SB55, at least they are higher than they were previously, and defendants will have a more meaningful opportunity to challenge the blood test results at trial.