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Law OHIO MMJ

"the law allows vaping but prohibits smokable cannabis."

Vaping WHAT exactly? Not flower, I presume as this is "smokable". Carts and syringes perhaps? sigh...just another example of half-wit politicians sticking their nose where it doesn't belong...to wit, our medical decisions and care.


Ohio awards 56 medical marijuana licenses; program to launch later this year


In a key step toward launching later this year what is expected to be a lucrative sector for the medical marijuana industry, Ohio regulators issued 56 dispensary licenses.

Regulators received 376 dispensary applications and were allowed by law to hand out a total of 60 licenses. But the state didn’t receive applications for two of the districts.

The Marijuana Business Factbook 2018 projects Ohio’s MMJ market has the potential to generate upwards of $300 million in annual retail sales within a few years.


The industry’s start is expected to be sluggish, however, partly because of Ohio’s slow licensing of cultivation and processing businesses.
The awarding of dispensary licenses by the state Board of Pharmacy itself had been delayed from May. That resulted in applicants paying thousands of dollars each in additional real estate expenses while they awaited final word.

Experts predict Ohio will miss the mandated Sept. 8 date to be up and running and that MMJ products won’t be in plentiful supply until early 2019.

In addition to oils, edibles and tinctures, the law allows vaping but prohibits smokable cannabis. Physicians are expected to begin registering patients for the program in July.
 
“It’s kind of like ‘The Producers,’” he said. “You almost have to wonder if the state was taking its cue from Mel Brooks, purposely sabotaging (the program) from the outset, knowing that the Kasich administration doesn’t really want medical marijuana to work in Ohio. Because you can’t fumble this much and have it be like, we’re just that incompetent.”

Yep, if you want a program to fall short of requirements, cost too much, and be late then give it to a government agency to implement. Ohio may be incompetent, but they are sharp as tacks compared to MD where it took them 4 years to stand up a program. Beyond belief.



Ohio will miss Sept. 8 deadline for medical marijuana availability


Ohio said Tuesday that it will not have medical marijuana available by the September deadline, even as a key backer of recreational marijuana legalization said he’s using a combination of strategies to continue expanding access to safe cannabis.

Several cultivators who were close to ramping up operations experienced inspection delays that now make it impossible to meet the date set by Ohio’s 2016 medical marijuana law, Department of Commerce policy adviser Mark Hamlin said.

“We know that the public expectation and patient expectation around Sept. 8 was significant, so that was really important to us to try to hit because we know that people have been counting on that date,” he said. “We don’t take lightly that the product is not going to be available on that date.”

Hamlin contended that the state is not technically out of compliance with the law, because it called for the program itself — not the marijuana — to be ready on the implementation date.

He couldn’t say exactly when sales will begin, other than as soon as possible. Ohio has licensed 25 large and small growers and on Monday awarded 56 dispensary licenses.

Ian James, who ran the unsuccessful ballot campaign to legalize both recreational and medical marijuana in 2015, likened a series of missteps with the program — including a convicted felon placed on an application screening committee, shared passwords and missed deadlines — to a classic satirical comedy.

“It’s kind of like ‘The Producers,’” he said. “You almost have to wonder if the state was taking its cue from Mel Brooks, purposely sabotaging (the program) from the outset, knowing that the Kasich administration doesn’t really want medical marijuana to work in Ohio. Because you can’t fumble this much and have it be like, we’re just that incompetent.”

Hamlin said that criticism is unfair.

James, founder and president of Green Light Acquisitions LLC, outlined a well-funded, multi-pronged approach for how his various business and political interests are pushing forward on $250 million of related projects.

“For us to think that by keeping it illegal we’re going to stop people is just simply fantasy,” James said, noting that polls show 14 percent of Ohioans use marijuana regularly and another 14 percent would if it were legalized. “You can’t smother a black market by just saying ‘Say No To Drugs.’”

James said his business has developed a line of therapeutic lotions, soaps and sprays using cannabidiol that he’s marketing to large national retailers, including Urban Outfitters and Sephora. The firm also is moving into insurance, pet products and beverages, he said.

James said his plans to pursue another constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for personal use, which would likely appear on the 2020 ballot, haven’t been dampened by a competing proposal. He said that ballot issue has a “fatal flaw” that his lawyers believe would open the resulting marijuana market up to widespread abuse.

James also wants to see state lawmakers act. He said he’s again pushing a so-called “Fresh Start Act,” which calls for purging non-violent marijuana crimes that are now legal from offenders’ records. If lawmakers don’t act, he said his campaign organization would push it to the ballot as an initiated statute.

Another bill he’s advocating would open Ohio to hemp cultivation that’s now legal in many surrounding states, a proposal James said is backed by the American Farm Bureau.

Green Light attorney Ted Bibart said creating good cannabis policy is key to advocates’ ultimate goal.

“The goal is to continue to constantly educate,” he said, “but also to develop these industries in such a way that it will be mainstreamed, that they’re done safely, that they’re done appropriately, and that they’re done within the law so that they encourage regulatory frameworks that will be the undergirding of a fall of prohibition the same way we saw with alcohol — but far more responsibly done and with a focus on health and healing and wellness.”
 
Map: Where to Find Ohio’s 56 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio has licensed 56 locations that can sell medical marijuana once it becomes legal this fall. Ohio’s 2016 medical marijuana law says the program must begin Sept. 8.


The Ohio Board of Pharmacy on Monday awarded those provisional dispensary licenses that give the stores six months to meet state operation requirements. A total of 376 applications were received.

Click on the locations, and drill down into the map below for more details about the exact locations of the licensed dispensaries.

Find Dispensaries Near You (note: follow link to OG article for interactive map)


upload_2018-6-7_13-45-57.png


The executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association of Ohio, Thomas Rosenberger, says the board has ended months of speculation about where patients will be able to get medical marijuana.

Three of 31 geographic districts won’t have dispensaries. They either received no applications or had no qualifying applicant.

Also Monday, the board launched a toll-free medical marijuana help-line for patients, caregivers and health professionals. The number is 833-464-6627.

 
Same shit they pulled off in MD. Took them four years...five if you count their first abortive legislation, to get the program open.

I fucking hate government....the politicians and the faceless bureaucrats who get away with this crap. In any private commercial enterprise, they would all be out on their asses.



Lawmakers Furious About Ohio's Delay Of Medical Marijuana Program
By Jo Ingles Jun 6, 2018
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  • Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko
    Ohio Senate
The state’s medical marijuana program is not going to be ready for patients on the scheduled start date on September 8. And there's no clear idea on when it will begin.


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3:07
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko has been pushing for medical marijuana for years. He says officials from the state agency that oversees the medical marijuana program have told him none of the cultivators licensed by the state are growing marijuana right now and only one is close to starting the process.

“To say I was angry is an understatement," Yuko says.

The Ohio Department of Commerce, which oversees the state’s medical marijuana program, says there’s no way the September 8 deadline can be met. Spokeswoman Stephanie Gostomski says it was expected that the companies that had been given licenses to grow marijuana needed to be ready to start growing it in May.

“We thought we were going to have three,” Gostomski says. “One inspection occurred. No certificates of operation have been issued at this time.”

Gostomski says the company that was inspected didn’t pass. So that business is making the changes prescribed by inspectors.

Yuko says he is furious because patients who want medical marijuana were counting on getting it in September. And now he says veterans suffering from PTSD, adults battling cancer and children experiencing massive seizures will have to wait with time they don’t have.

“To hold a child… to hold them in your arms. To have them have that seizure in your arms. To see the Mom and Dad living in fear, day in and day out, knowing that next seizure could cause brain damage or death. We had to do better,” Yuko says. “We should have done better. But we didn’t do better. And now, I can only hope and pray that someone wakes up and says ok, listen, what can we do to expedite this as quickly as possible and make this right.”

The Department of Commerce had said earlier this year that the medical marijuana program would still be operational on September 8, but only partially – not all growers, processors and dispensaries would be up and running at full strength.

For her part, Gostomski says she can’t give a certain start date for the program.

“We do have two level 2’s that have expressed interest for their inspections in June and then we have seven more in July, five of which are our large cultivators,” she says. “So we have nine inspections coming up in the coming weeks and if they receive their certificates of operations, all nine of those businesses can start cultivating their products and that’s when we can start to see products on the shelves in dispensaries in Ohio.”

But Yuko says those who want medical marijuana have waited for two years, since lawmakers passed the law that created the program. He says every day that goes on is one too many for the ill Ohioans who need medical marijuana right now.
 
Not really about legalization, per se, but I thought this might get some Ohio folks excited about what's coming down the line.

What will Ohio's medical marijuana grow centers look like? Here's a preview

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- State-sanctioned medical marijuana will soon be grown across Ohio, and the 25 companies awarded the first licenses are planning elaborate cultivation operations to securely and safely grow medical-grade cannabis.

Ohio's strict medical marijuana rules and regulations mean you won't see fields of green bushy marijuana plants from the highway. And industry innovation means no two facilities will look the same.

What might it look like in Ohio? I went to Illinois to see how PharmaCann does it. PharmaCann was issued a license to grow up to 25,000 square feet in Ohio. It plans to build a facility similar to this one in Buckeye Lake, east of Columbus.


Nondescript building, nondescript site


286_pharmacann9.jpg

Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com



PharmaCann operates two grow centers in Illinois. Its north-central facility is literally in the middle of a cornfield, behind a farmhouse off a gravel road. The facility has no address. It can't be found on Google maps or seen from the highway.

The 20,000 square-foot building was painted a blue-gray to blend with the horizon, and there's no logo or sign indicating what's inside.

PharmaCann plans to build its Ohio facility a little bit larger -- 62,000 square feet with 24,000 square feet of growing space. PharmaCann has also applied for a product processor license but won't find out for several weeks if it was awarded one of 40 available.

Security
3e6_pharmacanna1.jpg

Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com


There's only one way to get to and from the building. Visitors must be buzzed into a small waiting area. Employees must scan their ID cards to enter every room outside of the front offices and conference room.

Cameras monitor all areas in the building except for the restrooms and changing areas. Facility manager Scott Calgaro said they haven't had any problems with marijuana being illegally diverted out of the facility since it started operating in October 2015.

"There's no way you could do that without being seen," Calgaro said.

The above photo shows the area between grow rooms, which must be accessed with an employee ID card.

Smell
32d_pharmacann6.jpg

Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com


Cannabis gives off a pungent, skunky scent but there's no trace of that from outside the facility. But you can smell it as soon as you step inside the security vestibule. PharmaCann employs a filtration system that scrubs marijuana odors as they leave the building.

"As a new industry in Illinois, keeping our neighbors happy is important," Calgaro said.

Grow house


PharmaCann grows its cannabis in greenhouses, benefiting from both free sunlight when it's available and the ability to control light, air and pests.

Plants are housed in several 2,500-square-foot rooms. The temperature, irrigation and other variables for each room can be controlled remotely.

Mothers and clones
56d_pharmacanna11.jpg

Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com
Plants are clipped from mother plants, tagged with a bar code and put in soil to grow roots about every two weeks. The bar code stays with the plant all the way through the growing, harvesting and processing stages, so later problems can be traced back to a specific plant or batch of plants.

The baby plants spend about four weeks in this room before moving to another grow room where they will stay until harvest.

Mothers are pruned and shaped, and pests are monitored closely to ensure the plants stay healthy.

"We want the good stuff to grow, not the plant matter that's useless," cultivation lead Kenley Szell said.

Szell has a degree in botany and interned at a botanical garden before working for PharmaCann.

Two weeks in
045_pharmacann1.jpg

Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com


These plants will soon be moved to another room where they will stay and mature until harvest.

Pest control
ed7_pharmacann3.jpg

Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com


Illinois, like Ohio, limits what and when pesticides can be used. Szell said greenhouse-type structures can lead to more pests compared to indoor grows, but they've been able to mitigate common offenders naturally.

These satchels contain botanical mites that prevent pests from invading plants.

"The state is very particular about their pest controls which means we have to be very particular with our pest controls," Calgaro said.

Real and artificial light
c35_pharmacann7.jpg

Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com


Each grow room contains two types of artificial lights to expose plants to varying spectrums of light and ensure a consistent crop year-round. The greenhouse allows growers to use natural light from mid-spring to September, Szell said, and they can use artificial lights to continue growth on dark or stormy days.

Plants spend about two weeks in a vegetative state, under blue light for 18 hours a day. Then the schedule is flipped; plants are under light with more red for 12 hours a day for eight to 10 weeks.

Flowering
884_pharmacann5.jpg

Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com
After spending a few weeks in a "vegetative" state, the lights are flipped to encourage the plant to grow flowers.

Plants will spend eight to 10 weeks in this "flowering" stage, depending on the variety, or strain, and the characteristics desired by the grower.



Harvest and package
700_pharmacann8.jpg

Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com


Plants are then harvested and moved to a drying room to cure for about two weeks. Employees then trim leaves away, leaving the dried flowers.

Employees weigh and measure marijuana flowers and package them with a label that breaks down the strain's cannabinoids, including compounds THC and CBD, and terpenes, essential oils produced by the plant. At its southern Illinois facility, the company also makes concentrates.

Illinois issues a combination cultivator/processor license. Ohio licenses cultivators separately from processors, though most of the companies awarded cultivation licenses applied for processor licenses.

The whole process, from clipping from a mother plant to shipping product to dispensaries, takes about four months. Ohio's program start date will depend on when the 25 companies issued cultivation licenses start growing. None has passed inspection to be able to start growing, as of June 11.
 

Which doctors can recommend medical marijuana in Ohio? Search our database


COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Anyone who wants to use medical marijuana in Ohio must first be approved and registered by a licensed Ohio physician who has been certified to recommend cannabis by the Ohio State Medical Board.

The medical board approves "certificates to recommend" marijuana at its monthly meetings. Cleveland.com will keep an updated list of all certified doctors as they are approved.

Is your doctor on the list? Are there doctors in your area who can recommend medical marijuana?

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Distance is measured from the center of the zip code to the center of the doctors' zip codes.
Some mobile users may need to use this link instead.


Search our database of doctors who have been certified to recommend medical marijuana in Ohio.
Ohio's medical marijuana law allows patients with one of 21 medical conditions to buy and use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, but it does not allow for smoking marijuana or growing it for personal use. Because marijuana is still an illegal substance on the federal level, doctors cannot prescribe it, but they can discuss its use with patients and recommend its use.

Certified physicians must have completed two hours of continuing education credits about cannabis and the qualifying medical conditions.

To recommend medical marijuana, doctors must:

  • Certify that a "bona fide" relationship exists with the patient;
  • Certify the patient has a qualifying condition;
  • Review the patient's history over the past year in the state controlled substances database;
  • Discuss the pros and cons of marijuana use with the patient.
Patients, and any licensed caregivers, will be registered by the physician. An electronic patient ID card will be immediately issued, so patients can leave the doctor's office and immediately buy marijuana from a dispensary.

Registrations will cost $50 ($25 for veterans and individuals enrolled in federal disability programs) and expire after one year. Registrations are expected to begin later this summer.
 
"Unprocessed cannabis can be purchased and used legally so long as the patient doesn’t light it up."

Wtf are they thinking, eh? Voluntary compliance? sigh


Medical marijuana: If Ohio won't let you burn it, how do you use it?


Some say medical marijuana is a misnomer, including some local officials and the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

“People keep saying ‘medical marijuana’ and there’s no such thing,” said Helen Jones-Kelley, executive director, Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services board of Montgomery County. “It isn’t like you can just go into a place and find a strain of marijuana that is medicinal.”


Being grown from the cannabis roots on up, the office running the show is called the Medical Marijuana Control Program. Proponents say pot offers patients relief from pain, inflammation and nausea.

As marijuana becomes available later this year, there’s still widespread public confusion about what kind of products Ohioans with a doctor’s recommendation will be allowed to purchase in dispensaries.

“I think a lot of the confusion comes because plant material will be sold. But you’re not allowed to take that plant material and use it by combustion,” said Thomas Rosenberger, executive director, National Cannabis Industry Association of Ohio.

So what exactly is medical marijuana under Ohio law if it’s not smoked?

Here are the forms of marijuana allowed for medical use in Ohio:

Oils

Like many other plants, oil can be extracted from marijuana and processed into concentrated forms that can be used in recipes or in skin lotions and creams.

Edibles

Plant material can be baked in or mixed into a foodstuffs including brownies, cookies, ice cream, lollipops and crackers.

Patches

As with other transdermal patches, the active compounds of marijuana reach the bloodstream through the skin.

Plant material

Unprocessed cannabis can be purchased and used legally so long as the patient doesn’t light it up. In any form, patients are limited to a 90-day supply of medical marijuana.

Tinctures

These alcoholic extracts of cannabis are usually taken by dropper under the tongue or mixed into drinks.

Vaping

While the law prohibits the use of medical marijuana through combustion, it does allow for vaping, which releases the psychoactive molecules of marijuana through heating in a vaporizer.
 



First medical marijuana grower gets green light to start planting in Ohio


Medical marijuana can now start growing in Ohio.

The state of Ohio has issued its first certificate of operation to a medical marijuana cultivator in Ravenna in Portage County, according to a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Commerce.

FN Group Holdings, which was one 25 cultivators to receive provisional licenses to grow medical marijuana in Ohio, was awarded the certificate of operation Friday after having its facility inspected on Tuesday.

FN Group is one of 12 so-called "Level 2" growers that received provisional licenses from the state to grow medical marijuana in up to 3,000 square feet of space.

Thirteen Level 1 growers have received provisional licenses to grow in up to 25,000 square feet.

But so far, FN Group - which will do business as Wellspring Fields - is the only cultivator to receive a certificate to operate - the final step before planting can begin.

About a half-dozen more inspections, which could lead to the issuance of more certificates to operate, are scheduled over the next two months.

While the regulatory framework for Ohio's medical marijuana program must be established by Sept. 8, the availability of medical marijuana for patients depends on how fast growers can plant, harvest and process marijuana for sell in licensed dispensaries.

The state acknowledged earlier this month that none of the 25 cultivators licensed to grow medical marijuana in Ohio were ready to begin planting in time to meet the anticipated Sept. 8 start date.

But it could be available soon after the start date, according to least one expert.

"If plants are in the ground by the end of the month or beginning of July, you could have product by the middle or end of September,'' said Nick Hice, one of the founders of Denver Relief Consulting, a nationally recognized marijuana consulting firm.

Medical marijuana will be available to registered patients who get recommendations from their doctors. The drug can be used to treat 21 qualifying medical conditions, including cancer, Crohn's disease, epilepsy and other seizure disorders.

Before the product can be made available to patients, it must be tested for quality and safety at a licensed testing facility.

The historically black Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, and Hocking College in Nelsonville were recently granted provisional licenses to operate, the commerce department also said Friday.

The universities were among nine applicants for licenses for testing facilities, which also must be inspected and certified by the state.

The state will award an undetermined number of licenses from among the remaining seven applicants.
 

Ohio's medical marijuana patient registry put on hold


The launch of Ohio's medical marijuana patient registry has been put on hold because of unexpected delays in bringing Ohio's newest treatment to market, according to state regulators.

Medical marijuana patients and their caregivers will be required to register with the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to receive patient identification cards necessary to buy medical marijuana from licensed dispensaries.

The online registry was expected to go live early this month, but the agency has decided to push back the launch until officials have a clearer idea of when medical marijuana will be widely available, according to Grant Miller, a spokesman for the pharmacy board.

Medical marijuana was expected to be available to Ohio patients by Sept. 8. But none of the 25 cultivators licensed to grow marijuana in Ohio received permission to begin planting in time to meet that deadline.

"What we're doing now is reassessing what would be best for patients here in Ohio,'' Miller said. "We're trying to find the most suitable date (to launch the patient registry) for patients to be served well.''

Miller said delaying the launch has nothing to do with the pharmacy department's readiness.

"The registry has been tested, and we're confident in its functionality and usage,'' Miller said. "It basically just has to be turned on. Whenever we have a date, we'll be ready.''

Miller said launching the registry now could not only jeopardize patient access to medical marijuana but also legal protections for medical marijuana patients who obtain marijuana from other states.

The "affirmative defense'' clause in Ohio's medical marijuana law protects medical marijuana patients from prosecution if they have a written recommendation from a doctor to buy and use marijuana to treat one of 21 qualifying conditions.

But under the law, affirmative defense protection fornon-registered patients without medical marijuana cards expires 180 days after the patient registry is up and running.

"We don't want that situation where a patient has to use affirmative defense, but affirmative defense has expired, and they don't have the option to go to a dispensary,'' Miller said.

Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Commerce, which regulates the growers, has yet to set a date when it expects medical marijuana to be available to be dispensed in Ohio.

The department is in the process of inspecting grow operations and granting certificates of operation necessary to begin planting.

So far, just one grower – FN Group Holdings in Ravenna, Ohio has passed inspection and been given the green light to start growing
 
These people must have taken lessons from my state of Maryland on how to fuck up a program rollout.


Medical marijuana cultivators won't make September deadline to get program up and running

CLEVELAND - At Buckeye Relief in Eastlake, the first marijuana seeds were planted on July 31—four days after the cultivating facility received its final certificate of operation from the state as it nears the deadline of September 8 to get the Ohio medical marijuana program up and running. A deadline that will pass without any action.

Buckeye Relief received the highest Level I cultivator application score in the state, according to the facility. A Level I cultivator is permitted to have 15,000 sq. feet cultivation area, whereas a Level II cultivator can only cultivate 1,600 sq. ft., according to the Department of Commerce.

The department said it can issue up to 12 Level I licenses and 6 Level II licenses before Sept. 8. The director may issue additional provisional licenses after that based on the state's population and the patient population, according to the department.

Buckeye is one of three of the 26 licensed growers in the state to have received the go-ahead with five more expected to get the green light shortly.

The first crops there won't be ready until late November. They'll be sent to a processor to be transformed into one of the approved methods of consumption for those who are eventually cleared to receive medical marijuana.

The state has received 104 applications for the 40 processing licenses but recently noted that only 13 thus far have met the minimum requirements for certification.

In 2016, the state legislature approved medical marijuana for patients with any of the 21 medical conditions. The patients would have to visit with an approved doctor who would then recommend the edibles, oils, patches or other forms of marijuana other than smoking.

So far the state has approved 222 doctors who have received the requisite training to approve the drug.

As for the potential patients, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy has yet to open an online registry but that step is expected to be taken closer to the products becoming available later this year.
 
Is CBD oil legal in Ohio? State regulators say no

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- CBD oil derived from hemp can be found online and in many Ohio grocery and health stores, but state officials are saying the cannabis compound is illegal in Ohio.

Guidance from the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy issued over the weekend states that CBD oil -- derived from hemp or marijuana -- can only be dispensed in a state-licensed dispensary. But the first state-approved dispensary is still several months away from opening its doors.

All products containing CBD -- short for cannabidiol -- will have to comply with the rules of the state's medical marijuana program, including undergoing testing in a state-licensed lab. None of the four labs issued provisional licenses is open for business and likely won't be until cultivators near their first harvest, which is, again, months away.

The pharmacy board's clarification came after dispensary licensees asked whether they could sell the same CBD products in their stores seen on the shelves at health and grocery stores, board spokeswoman Ali Simon said. The answer: No.

Simon cited Ohio law defining marijuana as most parts of the plant including resin from cannabis stalks and fiber. That includes CBD derived from industrial hemp, which is defined in the federal Farm Act of 2014 as containing 0.3 percent or less THC, a psychoactive component of the plant.

CBD does not produce a high, and consumers say it alleviates inflammation, depression and a host of other ails.

Simon said the clarification went out to all Ohio pharmacists and licensed prescribers including hospitals, as well as law enforcement and the board's field agents.

The pharmacy board issued 56 provisional pharmacy licenses in June. Licensees have six months to build out their facilities and meet all obligations in state law and rules.

Ohio's medical marijuana law allows individuals with one of 21 medical conditions to buy and use marijuana and marijuana products if recommended to them by a certified Ohio physician. Two years after the law took effect, Ohio is still trying to get its program off the ground, and the first medical marijuana might not be available until early 2019.

Isn't hemp legal?

CBD-infused oils, soaps, sodas and more have been sold in Ohio under the guise of the 2014 Farm Bill, which allowed state hemp pilot programs that involved research. Ohio has not participated in the pilot program.

In December 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration clarified that CBD and other substances derived from cannabis were a Schedule I substance like marijuana and therefore illegal. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a hemp industry lawsuit challenging the change because the businesses lacked standing. But the court also opined that the Farm Act trumped the DEA change.

The FDA recently approved a pharmaceutical grade CBD oil called Epidiolex, after it showed positive results for children with certain types of epilepsy. The FDA maintains that products containing CBD or THC cannot be sold as "dietary supplements."

Products need to be tested

The pharmacy board advised that: "All products must have a known source, as well as known quantities of active ingredients. Testing procedures will be conducted by testing laboratories licensed by the Ohio Department of Commerce."

Martin Lee, director of education and advocacy organization Project CBD, said CBD products should be tested but also should be readily available. Lee said products sold over the counter at grocery stores and gas stations are a mixed bag because they're not regulated.

"Roll the dice and pick a product and test it -- odds are it won't be properly labeled or what it says it does," Lee said. "Likely it will have a lot of crap added in there, flavorings and other things that could be toxic."

Lee said hemp-derived CBD is legal under certain limited provisions. California's health department took a similar stance on CBD in a July statement.

What happens next?

Simon said she was not aware of any arrests or product seizures as a result of the guidance.

In February, two Lancaster businesses were asked to stop selling CBD products and police confiscated their inventory.

Law enforcement in Indiana raided several establishments selling CBD in 2017. The state's attorney general issued an opinion that CBD was illegal. State lawmakers worked quickly to legalize use and sale of non-FDA approved CBD earlier this year.

Nycole Brownfield, a mother of an epilepsy patient and advocate from Twinsburg, said many Ohioans have found good CBD products that help them. Brownfield said they too will have to wait until Ohio's dispensaries open at a yet-to-be-determined date.

"Anybody who has anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, especially veterans, will suffer," Brownfield said.
 
These people must have taken lessons from my state of Maryland on how to fuck up a program rollout.

LOL! Actually, here in Ohio the government just naturally excels at exhibiting incompetence. Remember, this is the state that brought you the, Kent State Massacre! So if you don't agree with the way they do things here in Ohio, then they will just shoot your raggedy ass! :rip:


.
 
They must have taken lessons on how to fuck up a program rollout from my state, Maryland. LOL

Ohio’s medical marijuana program still facing delays

Ohio’s medical cannabis program went into effect on September 8, 2016 and two years later, patients still don’t have access to marijuana. Ohio residents were supposed to have access to medical marijuana last week.

The September 8th deadline that was written into law has been delayed while the state ensures a properly regulated medical cannabis industry.

One of the reasons that rolling out medical cannabis in Ohio has been such a lengthy process is because so few cultivators have been given the green light to start growing. There are 26 businesses in Ohio that have been chosen to cultivate but only four have passed the inspection and we allowed to grow this summer.

Other reasons the program has been delayed are attributed to delays with local permits, real estate closing delays, and delays with ordering equipment. The registry of caregivers and medical cannabis patients that was supposed to be running this month has also been delayed.
 
Why Ohio missed its own medical marijuana deadline

Medical marijuana is legal in Ohio, but the state missed its own deadline for completing the distribution program.


Ohio has officially puff, puff, passed the deadline for its own medical marijuana program.

Didn’t Ohio Already Legalize Medical Marijuana?

The state legislature first voted to legalize marijuana two years ago, and while state agencies say the regulatory framework has been completed, patients with doctors’ recommendations for the drug cannot legally pick up a prescription.

“It is extremely disappointing that the Ohio legislature has broken its promise to Ohio patients,” Justin Strekal, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said. “There is no such thing as a compassionate excuse when it comes to denial by delay of therapeutic, physician recommended medication to a patient who is suffering from conditions like cancer, HIV/AIDS, or PTSD.

“It is time for either renewed leadership or new leaders in Ohio.”

Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program was established in House Bill 523, which gave the responsibility of maintaining the system to the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, the Department of Commerce, and the State Medical Board.

Since then, the Board of Pharmacy awarded 56 provisional dispensary licenses and issued them in November last year. The Department of Commerce has had a compliance team in place since March of this year to inspect those licenses.

“We have been approving certificates to recommend medical marijuana since April 2018. To date, there are 222 Ohio physicians who are certified to recommend,” Tessie Pollock, the director of communications for the Medical Board, said in an email. “You also need to recognize that this is a private industry and the individual licensees will make their own operating decisions.”

Stephanie Gostomski, the assistant director of communications for the Department of Commerce, said weather, equipment shipment delays, slow real estate closings, necessary electricity transformer upgrades, unforeseen renovations, and delayed local permits contributed to the missed deadline.

What Happens When A Legislative Deadline Is Missed?

Ohio isn’t the only state with a legislature that’s slow to provide medical marijuana patients with cannabis.

Gostomski provided links to news coverage of 15 other states that have experienced delays in establishing a medical marijuana program.

“The majority of US states now authorize medical cannabis access by statute,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in an email. “Many of these programs have been operational for the better part of two decades. There is no need for Ohio lawmakers to reinvent the wheel or for regulators to unduly delay patients access.”

Gostomski said two different judges in two different decisions have confirmed that the program is operating “appropriately and has a green light to continue.”

When Will Medical Marijuana Be Available in Ohio?

None of the three governing agencies responsible for the medical marijuana program have provided a new deadline for when cannabis will be available in Ohio, but the current estimate is “a few months.” There are still a few steps before that can be possible.

The Board of Pharmacy must develop, test, and launch a patient and caregiver registry no earlier than 60 days before dispensaries have enough cannabis available. The Department of Commerce is responsible for marijuana cultivation, processing, and testing labs.

The Medical Board previously established a timeline for petitioners to add qualifying medical conditions to the program. The submission period begins Nov. 1 and ends Dec. 1 this year.

Gostomski described the two-year timeline as aggressive, but Armentano is convinced that unnecessary bureaucracy is at fault for the missed deadline.

“These delays which compromise public health, and are largely due to the reluctance on the part of politicians and regulators to move forward in an expeditious manner,” Armentano said. “Patients deserve, and must demand, better.”
 
“It is time for either renewed leadership or new leaders in Ohio.”

That's the unique thing about government...they somehow consistently manage to combine utter incompetence with unfettered arrogance.
 

Toledo medical marijuana grower could lose Ohio cultivation license


COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio regulators are in the process of revoking a medical marijuana cultivation license from a small-scale grower awarded a provisional license in November.

OhiGrow LLC, which received a license to grow 3,000 square feet of marijuana, hasn't made "a good faith effort" to establish its facility in Toledo, according to Ohio Department of Commerce officials.

Mark Hamlin, policy director at the Ohio Department of Commerce, said the company was generally non-responsive and said in its extension request it would begin construction in July -- weeks shy of the deadline for provisional licensees to be operational.

"We determined that didn't meet the standards for the director to grant an extension," Hamlin told the Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee during its meeting Thursday.

OhiGrow can appeal the department's decision.

OhiGrow is owned by Carl Boyar, who owns a medical marijuana dispensary in Illinois, according to license application records. Boyar did not immediately return a request for comment.

The department awarded provisional licenses to 12 small-scale growers and 12 large-scale growers in November 2017. Each had nine months to build and set up their facilities to meet the law's obligations to begin growing medical marijuana. The department awarded an additional license in May to an applicant affected by a data entry error and one in July to an applicant that appealed its rejection.

Ohio Auditor Dave Yost has questioned the department's authority to award licenses in violation with agency rules and Ohio's medical marijuana law.

Of the initial 24 licensees, nine small-scale growers and nine large-scale growers requested extensions last month. The Department of Commerce granted all but three and is still working with one large and one small cultivator on their requests.

Parma Wellness LLC, which has not yet begun construction on its site in Parma, was granted an extension. The company said it has not moved forward because it's involved in a lawsuit challenging the state's decision to award licenses to the company and another minority-owned business over higher-scoring applicants.

Seven cultivators had passed inspection and been granted certificates of operation allowing them to grow medical marijuana as of Friday.

If OhiGrow's license is revoked, the department will not immediately issue another one to the next highest scoring applicant, agency spokeswoman Stephanie Gostomski said. Gostomski said Commerce Director Jacqueline Williams would decide if and when to open a second application window to award additional licenses.

Ohio's medical marijuana program was supposed to be "fully operational" by Sept. 8. Licensing and construction delays have pushed back the date by several months. The program serves patients with one of 21 qualifying conditions who are recommended medical marijuana by a state-certified physician.
 
We had the same thing in MD. Black Legislative Caucus started bleating that black people were underrepresented as principals in the various grow and processing licenses issued (because, after all, these legislators only seem to represent black people who live in their district). Facing law suits and possible additional delay to a hideously delayed program (took them five years to get the industry open...5 years), the State initiated a investigation into historical discrimination in business against black business people and, what a surprise, the State determined that blacks were historically discriminated...in an industry that didn't exist 20 years ago. So, they decided to issue 5 more grow and five more processing licenses.

Four of the five in each category were reserved for black owned business....a pure racial set aside.

One of the five in each category went to a business that qualified initially but was bumped for "diversity" reasons and sued the State.

While many people observed the absolute mendacity of the State's report and actions (that is, they are race based and hence racist), nobody (incl me) cared as long as the got the fucking program finally opened.

That's where we stand in MD. It appears to be a similar situation in OH but the judge in this case seems to be much less concerned PC issues and optics. Of course, he will be appealed.





Ohio medical marijuana: 'Racial quota' for grow licenses ruled unconstitutional


COLUMBUS – A central Ohio court ruled the state's "racial quota" for awarding medical marijuana business licenses is unconstitutional.

The ruling could prompt the state to award another provisional medical marijuana grow license to the plaintiff in the case, Greenleaf Gardens LLC, bringing the total to 14 large-scale growers and 13 small-scale growers. And it could also apply to other parts of the program.

Ohio law requires 15 percent of all licenses to grow, process, test and sell medical marijuana be awarded to businesses owned by a racial minority. The Ohio Department of Commerce last year awarded two of the available 12 medical marijuana cultivator licenses to businesses headed by minorities even though they scored lower than other applicants.

One of those passed over for a license, PharmaCann Ohio LLC, filed suit in December over the provision, arguing there was no precedent or legal basis for a minority set-aside for the new program. PharmaCann was granted a license – the 13th to a large-scale cultivator – earlier this year after a scoring error was discovered. Greenleaf Gardens LLC, which also was not awarded a license because of the minority set-aside, took over the lawsuit.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Charles A. Schneider sided with Greenleaf Gardens in a Thursday opinion.

"The court finds the 15 percent set aside is not insignificant and the burden to be excessive for a newly created industry with limited participants," Schneider wrote in his order granting summary judgment.

The Ohio Department of Commerce was named in the suit and oversees the cultivator, processor and testing lab portions of Ohio's nascent medical marijuana program. The department is reviewing the order and has not yet decided whether it will appeal or grant additional licenses, spokeswoman Kerry Francis told The Enquirer on Friday morning.

Greenleaf Gardens CEO David Neundorfer said he was pleased with the ruling in the case and hopes to receive a license to grow marijuana at its Geauga County site where the company received a license to make medical marijuana products.

"While we look forward to ultimately receiving a license to cultivate medical marijuana, we are actively engaged in bringing our five dispensary licenses and processing license to operational status," Neundorfer said in a statement. "We remain committed to working with the Department and the Board to ensure that Ohio’s patients have access to the safest and most effective medical marijuana as soon as possible.”

Why did the companies sue the state?
Ohio's medical marijuana law, passed in 2016, allows patients with one of 21 qualifying conditions to buy and use cannabis if recommended to them by an Ohio-certified physician. Three state agencies spent two years writing rules and regulations for the program, including limiting the number of licenses for marijuana cultivators, testing labs, processors and retail dispensaries.

On Nov. 30, 2017, the Ohio Department of Commerce awarded 12 provisional licenses for large grow centers would be awarded out of 109 applicants after a months-long competitive application process.

Parma Wellness Center LLC and Harvest Grows LLC ranked 14th and 23rd, respectively, among applicants that met the minimum scores.

But state law required 15 percent of all licenses to go to businesses majority-owned and operated by someone from one of several “economically disadvantaged” groups: African-Americans, American Indians, Hispanics or Latinos, or Asians.

After the department scored all the applications, it awarded grow licenses to Parma Wellness and Harvest Grows to comply with the law.

Why did the judge rule against the quota?
Minority set-asides have been upheld by courts when there’s documented evidence of discrimination in the industry and they’re narrowly tailored to increase participation.

Medical marijuana is a new industry in Ohio, so there isn’t history of discrimination, Schneider wrote. Attorneys for the state offered reports that African Americans and Latinos are arrested for marijuana crimes at higher rates.

But Schneider wrote that’s not enough to prove discrimination across several racial groups in the new industry.

If legislators wanted to provide opportunities for individuals who had been convicted of marijuana crimes, he wrote, they could have done so by giving preference to companies owned by former arrestees and convicts.

What happens next?
The lawsuit did not ask for the minority-owned businesses' licenses to be rescinded because the companies didn’t want to delay the program. (The state missed its September self-imposed deadline to be “fully operational” for several reasons.) Schneider’s order didn’t offer a remedy.

Parma Wellness is reviewing the order and declined to comment on it Friday.

The Department of Commerce has the ability to revoke licenses and also award additional licenses, as they did in May for PharmaCann and in July for a small-scale grower, Pure OH LLC, that appealed its rejection. An agency spokeswoman said Friday a decision has not yet been made.

The court order could apply to the other types of licenses awarded. The commerce department has awarded 14 processor licenses out of a maximum 40 and plans to award more in the coming months.

One of the 56 dispensary licenses awarded in June went to a minority-owned business over several higher-scoring applicants. Harvest Grows’ dispensary application for a highly-sought after Columbus location scored lower than a dozen others but was awarded one of five available licenses for the central Ohio area.
 
First Ohio medical marijuana dispensary gets certificate of operation
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Board of Pharmacy, one of the regulators in the state’s nascent medical marijuana program, has cleared a Jefferson County business to open as a dispensary, the state announced Wednesday afternoon.

CY+, located at 180 Main Street, Wintersville, is the first among dozens of businesses that have received provisional dispensary licenses from the state. Wintersville is located in eastern Ohio, just outside Steubenville.

Wednesday’s news from the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program is the latest as it ramps up. Last week, the Patient and Caregiver Registry went live. Marijuana was being harvested throughout the state.

Ohio medical marijuana Patient and Caregiver Registry is open today

The provisional licenses allow the dispensaries to work to become fully operational businesses. Once they believe they have built up their businesses and are in compliance with the Ohio law and state medical marijuana rules, they invite state regulators to inspect them. If they clear inspection, they can get a certificate of operation.

Twenty-one conditions, from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder, can qualify someone for a recommendation from a doctor from medical marijuana.

Ohio accepting proposals for ailments that could be treated with medical marijuana

The state is accepting proposals through Dec. 31 for additional conditions.
 
This is not news and applies to the whole country and not just Ohio.

Ohioans gun rights go up in smoke for medical marijuana users
Do you want to use marijuana to treat a medical condition, or do you want to own a firearm? That’s a decision many Ohioans will soon have to make.

When filling out the background check forms to buy a gun, there's a section that asks whether you are a user of marijuana.

It reads:

Answering yes will trigger an immediate rejection.

More than 1,000 Ohioans will not be allowed to buy a gun because they are on the medical marijuana registry. Federal law states you can not use marijuana and own a gun.

While states like Ohio regulate medical marijuana, the federal government still classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug.

Eric Delbert is the co-owner of LEPD Firearms Range and Training Facility.

“It’s definitely has come up but still at the federal level it is illegal and by federal standards in buying a firearm you’re an unlawful user of a drug you’re prohibited from owning or purchasing one,” said Delbert.

Delbert says even if they smell marijuana on someone trying to buy gun, they won't sell it.

“We have turned certainty numerous people away,” said Delbert.

Those who already purchased a gun prior to buying medical marijuana could also be affected according to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

We are told right now there isn't anything you can do about this. It's federal law.
 

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