Medical Marijuana Sales To Start Next Week In Ohio

The first sale of medical marijuana in Ohio could happen at the end of next week. The CY+ dispensary in Wintersville is reportedly hoping to finalize its first sale by Jan. 19.

The CY+ dispensary received approval in Dec. 2018 from the state, becoming the first medical marijuana dispensary in Ohio. “Receiving the first approval to operate is a major milestone in the transformation of the cannabis program in Ohio,” said Charles Bachtell, CEO of Cresco Labs, which owns CY+, when the news broke.

With two state testing labs and several cultivators operating already, and roughly a month after receiving state approval for CY+ in Wintersville, the dispensary is preparing to make its first sale, according to both the Columbus Dispatch and the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Cresco Labs is uniquely equipped to be the first Ohio medical marijuana dispensary. The company also sold the first legal medical marijuana in Pennsylvania in 2015. The Wintersville location will offer one-on-one consultation for patients and will eventually boast an array of products, including cartridges for vape pens, edibles, pills, patches, and traditional dried, leafy flowers.

At this moment, Ohio's production system for marijuana is still in its fledgling stages. While four additional dispensaries could come online in the next two months, pending state inspection, their supplies will be limited until growers and testing labs can catch-up.

Laboratories test for things like pesticides, herbicides, and other contaminants; as well as the presence of THC (a high-inducing oil present on marijuana leafs) and CBD (which does not produce a high).

With the labs, processors, growers and dispensaries opening up, the links between growers and their eventual customers are now in-place, but are relatively un-tested. It is not unreasonable to expect speed bumps during the early months of marijuana sales in Ohio. Especially with demand for product building.

The state has received 4,964 recommendations in the Patient and Caregiver Registry for medical marijuana. Of those with a recommendation, 3,575 patients have activated their Registry Card, the Medical Marijuana Control Program announced on Dec. 31, 2018. That number could have grown in the interim.

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Currently, 21 conditions may be treated with medical marijuana under the provisions of the Ohio program. Petitions were filed with the state's control board to expand coverage for autism, depression, opioid addiction, and other ailments.

The Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee will meet Feb. 7 in Columbus to discuss the petitions and adding the conditions to the program. If the petitions are properly formatted, they will be passed to experts that will evaluate the validity of the request. A decision should be made in six months.

"So many of our patients have expressed that they want more medical conditions listed," Ohio Marijuana Card President Connor Shore said when the petitioning period opened. "For example, anxiety, depression and insomnia are not among Ohio's qualifying conditions, despite being found on lists throughout other states with medical marijuana programs."

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