COLUMBUS, Ohio — This week medicinal dispensaries are expected to be able to apply to sell recreational marijuana.
This step comes six months after recreational marijuana became legal across the Buckeye State. Elevated Growth OH LLC is among the medicinal marijuana dispensaries in Worthington, Ohio, ready to apply for the dual license on Friday.
What You Need To Know
- Ohioans approved Issue 2 last November legalizing the sell of recreational marijuana in Ohio
- The state legislature and Gov. Mike DeWine have been cautious of the boundaries surrounding the product, and continue to try and crack down on it
- Medicinal dispensaries statewide can start applying for dual licenses on June 7
“We already have a very secure facility, but we still have to make sure our security is in line,” said Corey Bix, the operations manager at Elevated Growth OH LLC. “We have to ensure that our inventory processes are up to par and are keeping level with the state’s requirements.”
Elevated Growth OH LLC is a medicinal dispensary operating that opened last October. They say there are a lot of regulations on medicinal products. For instance, where people open the products, and where a person can smoke the medicinal product. Bix said the dispensary is very excited about this next step.
“We check that everything was received correctly from our fulfillment area to the patient and the customer,” Bix said. “And everything else then flows fairly smoothly. But we don’t expect a lot of changes to actually affect how we dispense the product. I think the majority of the changes will be regarding how the products can be entering the public sphere.”
Meanwhile, Bix said they are ready to comply with any future boundaries Ohio enacts regarding recreational marijuana. They are already complying with the state’s regulations that are in place. Bix said the rules have been clear, and they have continued to follow them.
“The state, the department of commerce as a whole, have representatives that help our company,” Bix said. “They have been very transparent about what’s going on, trying to assist us, and the best way to start this in a in a successful way.”
“We are just making sure we have everything in line with supplies,” said Dorland Henderson, the owner of Elevated Growth Ohio LLC. “Vendor wise, employee wise, and we’re really ramping up our staff right now.”
In order to sell recreational marijuana, the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control said dispensaries will need to meet enhanced security requirements and maintain enough supply of the product. They will also need to establish a new checkout system that distinguishes between recreational and medicinal customers. The recreational customers will then get charged a 10% excise tax on purchases. However, medicinal customers will not have to pay that same fee on their purchases.
“We’ve been contacting people daily to make sure we can have the products that we need at Elevated Growth to serve our patients and customers and make sure there is an uninterrupted flow of product to the people that are going to visit our dispensary,” Bix said. “We also have been taking on new talent. We’re excited to have new employees and excited to train new employees to enter this market.”
As the application period nears, lawmakers still have not passed any new legislation regarding recreational marijuana. Meanwhile, a new Ohio Senate proposal would also create new regulations for Delta-8 THC, and modify rules for home-grow which would prohibit home-growers from selling marijuana to the public.