Ohio Prepares For Dispensary Application Round

With much of the cannabis oriented media focusing on the flurry of adult use bills and opportunities, it is easy to overlook that many states are doubling down on their medical marijuana infrastructure. For instance, over just the last few weeks, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy ("Board") began its efforts at more than doubling its number of medical marijuana dispensaries. Ohio anticipates commencing an application round soliciting up to 73 additional dispensaries at some point in the "spring/summer 2021."

Ohio has seen tremendous growth in its patient population up to 136,507, but, until recently, faced a cap of 60 total dispensaries (with only 57 provisionally licensed). However, on April 19, 2021, the Board approved increasing the cap by an additional 73 dispensaries, which, if all are issued, would bring the total number of dispensaries to 130. Ohio also has provisionally licensed 34 cultivators (inclusive of Level I and Level II licenses), as well as 48 processing