Ohio’s long-awaited adult-use cannabis sales are edging closer to becoming a reality as licences continue to be issued throughout the supply chain, despite no dispensaries yet receiving the green light.
According to an update from the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC), 34 dual ‘certificates of operation’ (COO), which enable existing medical cannabis operators to begin processing cannabis for adult-use purposes, have been now been issued.
Friday’s (July 26) update represents a more than 3x increase in licences issued since the first tranche was announced just days earlier (July 22).
To date, 15 cultivators, 15 processors and four testing labs have now been licenced. However, despite 134 provisional licences being issued to dispensaries, not one has yet been awarded a COO.
According to the DCC, it plans to issue dual-licenses to cultivators, processors and testing labs before dispensaries, meaning Ohian’s access to adult-use cannabis continues to remain non-existant.
A futher 36 processors, 22 cultivators and three testing labs are also understood to have received provisional licences, totalling 195 so far.
Separately, research from the Ohio State University’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Centre, has revealed the scale of the strict provisions around where adult-use cannabis businesses are allowed to operate.
As defined in Section 3780.01 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC), cannabis operators are prohibited from being within 500ft of facilities including churches, public libraries, public playgrounds, parks and schools.
An analysis published in July 2024 identified nearly 17,000 locations in Ohio classified as public libraries, schools, or churches:
- Schools: 6,551 locations
- Churches: 9,934 locations
- Public Libraries: 719 locations
Due to limited data, public playgrounds and public parks were not comprehensively included. Preliminary mapping identified 76 state parks and over 800 other parks, suggesting the total number of prohibited locations could exceed 18,000.
