Ohio’s medical marijuana program has seen court challenges by rejected applicants, inspections issues, and other problems. And now there’s yet another delay in the program, which was supposed to be up and running in less than two months.
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy created a registry for medical marijuana patients and caregivers, where they can get ID cards to use to buy products at dispensaries.
But because none of the licensed growers received permission to start cultivating in time for the initial September 8 deadline, spokesperson Ali Simon said the registry’s launch will be pushed back as well.
“Dispensaries can’t open until there’s product for them to sell or dispense, so all these steps are lining up together,” Simon says.
Ohio just issued its first medical marijuana growing license this month, far behind schedule, with about a dozen other companies waiting for inspections. The state awarded 56 provisional dispensary licenses for businesses in June, giving them just six months to meet state operation requirements.
The Department of Commerce has yet to announce a date that it expects marijuana products to be available.
