Ohio marijuana regulators have issued dozens of provisional licenses to sell recreational marijuana as the state gears up to launch retail sales of cannabis for use by adults. The licenses come following a successful ballot measure last year that legalized pot over the objections of GOP Gov. Mike DeWine and many Republican lawmakers.
Retail sales of recreational cannabis will begin at the state’s existing dispensaries selling medical marijuana, which was legalized by state lawmakers in 2016. The Ohio Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) began accepting applications for dual licenses to produce and sell both medicinal and adult-use weed on June 7 after posting information on the application process earlier last week. Since then, the agency has received hundreds of applications and has approved at least 62 provisional dual licenses for dispensaries, growers, processors and testing labs, online cannabis news source Marijuana Moment reported on Friday.
Ohio regulators have issued the state’s first provisional licenses for legal recreational marijuana … [+]
Before the dispensaries with dual licenses can begin selling cannabis to adults aged 21 and older, they must first demonstrate to the DCC that have complied with several requirements for the transition. The businesses must update their POS system to differentiate between recreational and medical transactions. Dispensaries must also demonstrate that they will be able to maintain an adequate supply of cannabis for medical marijuana patients and enhance security at the retail site.
Once the requirements for dual licenses have been met and any required inspections have been successfully completed, the dispensaries will be issued a certificate of operation that will allow the businesses to begin recreational marijuana sales. While the commencement of adult-use cannabis sales is expected soon, the DCC’s parent agency noted that the stores will launch recreational sales as they are approved instead of all at once.
“It’s important to keep in mind that a dual-use provisional license does not permit the holder to sell non-medical cannabis; it is issued as a placeholder while the provisional licensee works to meet the necessary requirements to obtain a Certificate of Operation and the Division processes all required documents,” a Department of Commerce spokesperson told online cannabis news source Marijuana Moment on Friday. “Following successful completion of that process, Certificates of Operation will be issued based on roughly the order in which completed applications were received.”
“As a reminder, there will be no one singular day when sales begin. We will start issuing licenses and it will be up to the retailer based on staffing, stock and other considerations as to which day they will begin sales,” the spokesperson continued. “Given the foundation already laid through the Medical Marijuana Control Program, current medical permit holders positioned to apply for dual-use status who have already undergone many of the comprehensive checks are anticipated to have a much quicker turnaround for issuance of licenses over the summer.”
Jason Erkes, chief communications officer at Cresco Labs, a cannabis multistate operator that has been issued provisional dispensary, cultivator and processor dual licenses, told Marijuana Moment that “the speed that the state of Ohio is working at is a testament to their priorities.”
“We’ve worked with municipalities all over the country, and Ohio seems to be working at lightning-fast speed, issuing provisional licenses a week after applications were submitted,” he said. “We’ve never seen that anywhere.”
“We’re obviously very excited—and so are the consumers across the state,” Erkes said. “We’re ready to flip the switch and welcome people into our stores.”
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