40 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Allowed in Ohio Under Proposed Rules

OHIO - Forty medical marijuana dispensaries would be allowed under proposed rules from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. The state may expand the number of dispensaries allowed to operate in the state after Sept. 8, 2018.

The rules also state that doctors that prescribe marijuana will need to sit through two hours of medical training and will be unable to have any business interest in an operating dispensary.

The rules were released Dec. 15 by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy (OBP). The organization is now seeking public comment on the pending rules and asking the public to read through the rules and provide feedback.

One organization has already come out against portions of the revised rules. The Marijuana Policy Project said through a spokesperson they were happy with changes to the amount of growing space the state now allows, up 78 percent from the first rules draft, but there is still work to be done.

"The bad news is that dispensary licenses are being limited to 40," said Aaron Marshall, MPP spokesperson. "You have 4,700 patients per dispensary. That’s far too few dispensaries. We think somewhere in the range of 250-300 dispensaries is needed. Ohio should have eight times the number of dispensaries. It’s problematic to have that low number of dispensaries for what we think is a robust patient population. "

Marshall pointed out that in other states with medical marijuana the ratio of patients to dispensary is significantly lower. In Arizona, Marshall says, each dispensary is responsible for about 777 patients. Delaware has a ratio of 497 patients for one dispensary.

"Ohio is way off in left field here, unfortunately," he says.

Marshall says that MPP will continue to work publicly and privately to amend the rules and boost the number of dispensaries. He says he's hopeful the state will take into account what MPP and other advocates for patients have to say about the rules.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy did not immediately return a request for comment.

For the 40 dispensaries that do get selected, the process for becoming licensed will not be cheap. To apply for a license will cost you $5,000. If you're lucky enough to get a license, a certificate of operation will cost you $80,000. Every two years a license holder will need to renew their certificate with the state. That renewal will cost another $80,000. An untimely renewal will cost the company $10,000.

The OBP says that is there is more than 40 applicants for dispensary licenses, than the company's "security" score will determine who receives the right to sell medical marijuana in the Buckeye State.

You can view the rules for dispensaries here.

You can view the rules for physicians here.

Photo from Shutterstock