More Cannabis Dispensaries Coming Soon: Ohio Expands Medical Cannabis Cultivation Amid Shortages

Ohio's medical marijuana cultivators who have complied with rules and regulations can now request permission to expand their grow space, the Ohio Department of Commerce announced Wednesday.

The expansion process comes as the Buckeye State plans to more than double the number of its dispensaries after a cultivator, Fire Rock Ltd., sued the state for failing to act on its February 2020 request to expand.

"This decision comes after a review of multiple program metrics, including patient program participation and the Board of Pharmacy’s impending request for new dispensary license applications," a Commerce Department spokesperson told the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

It's A Math Problem: There's A Weed Shortage For MMJ Patients 

Fire Rock and several other small-scale growers, who are all capped at 3,000 square feet of grow space, had been requesting an expansion, arguing that they were consistently selling out of product while the state had already expanded the number of licensees beyond the initial 24. The commerce department sat on Fire Rock's request, so the company sued. 

The Ohio Supreme Court stepped in and ordered the agency to make a decision. The agency rejected the request, arguing that expansion was premature and that there was “a sufficient program-wide supply” of cannabis, which was not the case. Fire Rock appealed.

Although after Wednesday's announcement to choose 73 more dispensaries, the issue could be moot.

More Dispensaries Coming Soon

The new dispensaries will be allowed to include drive-through windows in their proposals while the state goes through a rule-making process to let existing dispensaries retrofit their facilities with drive-through windows.

This comes after some rules were altered and relaxed in April 2020 to keep workers and patients safe during the pandemic.

The new allocation method to be undertaken by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy will be published on Sept. 20. The goal is to ensure there will be about 1,200 registered patients per dispensary in each dispensary district of the state. This will give Ohio more dispensaries per capita than in neighboring Pennsylvania.

Public Cannabis Companies Already Providing Weed To Ohio Dispensaries

Jushi Holdings Inc. JUSH JUSHF recently acquired Franklin Bioscience OH, LLC, a licensed medical cannabis processor in Ohio and in July purchased OhiGrow, LLC. 

Also in July, Verano Holdings Corp. VRNO VRNOF bought its fifth dispensary in Ohio. 

Cresco Labs CL CRLBF, which has the broadest type of cultivation license in the state (25,000 square feet), a complete processing facility and the maximum number of retail stores, supplies cannabis flower and products to 88% of dispensaries in Ohio. 

But, it's still not enough.

Photo by Matt Koffel on Unsplash.