Lawmakers hint date for Ohio recreational marijuana sales to begin

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohioans may be able to buy adult-use recreational marijuana sooner than expected, thanks to new rules approved and adopted on Monday by the state’s Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.

“We’re very happy,” Tom Haren, spokesperson for the Ohio Cannabis Coalition, said.

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The rules were adopted with no objection, including one allowing medical dispensaries to apply for dual use. Dual use means selling both recreational and medical marijuana. Committee co-chair, Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord), said this gets the ball rolling.

“It’s one step, and it’s a big step, but it’s one step along the pathways,” he said.

Applications for both dual and single-use will open by June 7, and dispensary licenses have to begin to be distributed by Sept. 7.

Dual-use applications will, in theory, be approved sooner, though James Canepa, superintendent of the commerce division of Cannabis Control, said the timeline for how quickly they get approved is not set in stone.

“It depends,” Canepa said. “It depends on the applicant; it depends on what they’re asking for.”

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While there is no requirement that licenses be distributed before Sept. 7, Callender said he is hopeful that dual-use applications will get approved fairly quickly and sales will happen by next month.

“I think we will see that by mid-June,” Callender said. “I’m hoping that’s the case.”

Haren said he suspects that most dispensaries will become licensed for dual use. He said in the meantime, medical dispensaries will be ready for sales upon receiving a recreational license as well, even if it comes months earlier than anticipated.

“Our members have been obviously anticipating the rollout of adult-use sales, getting processes in place, making whatever changes they need to,” Haren said.

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But state lawmakers said these rules are not where things end. Callender, for example, has a bill to create some new laws around the use which he said does not have to be passed in “full form” anymore, but said there are still some areas that need to be dealt with.

“The child safety packaging, not marketing towards children, making sure business owners are protected,” he said. “So, there’s a lot of things not inconsistent with what the voters voted on that we are going to need to look at legislatively.”

Callender said the chambers are aligned in some of those areas, but said another area that needs to be addressed is public smoking, and that is where some state lawmakers are at odds.

“I’m a fan of having the existing smoking laws apply equally to marijuana as to tobacco,” he said.

Equal laws for tobacco and marijuana would mean, for example, if a business owner wants to ban marijuana smoking on their patio, that is okay, but it is also okay for them to authorize it. Some state lawmakers think that should be handled differently and interpret state and federal law differently. The Senate passed a bill in December to largely ban public smoking; the House has yet to take up the Senate’s proposal.

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Callender said that either way, a lot of concerns will be addressed along the way.

“By allowing the rules to go into place and getting the initiated statute actually implemented, it will allow us as lawmakers to look at any place that maybe there is some flaws or is some issues,” he said.

The House has not taken any votes on its proposed legislation related to marijuana.

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