Medical marijuana could be coming to a street near you. Franklin County will receive five dispensaries, scattered across Columbus. The dispensary awardees are: • Greenleaf Apothecaries, located at 111 Vine St. across from the North Market. • Harvest of Ohio, located at 2950 N. High St., just south of Weber Road. • 127 OH, located at 1361 Georgesville Rd, adjacent to the Walmart off I-270. • Verdant Creations, which does not have a building site yet, just a parcel of land on Cassady Avenue. • Cannamed Therapeutics, located at 656 Grandview Ave., directly next to a bar, Woodland’s Backyard. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy announced the 56 dispensary statewide license recipients Monday. Out of the six counties surrounding Columbus, only two — Licking and Fairfield — were awarded dispensaries. Licking County received three, all located in Newark. Fairfield County received one dispensary, located in Carroll, near Lancaster. Steven Schierholt, the board's director, said his team took several precautions to guarantee the applications were scored properly, adding that the state contracted an outside consulting group, Atlanta-based North Highland, to assist in the process. "We were very sensitive to some of the problems the Department of Commerce had with their scoring and the criticism they received," Schierholt said. The dispensary announcement is an important step in the more than two-year process the state is in the midst of to get medical marijuana to eligible patients. The announcement was delayed last month because the pharmacy board had yet to complete validating the minimum requirements for applicants, such as background checks. State law says the program must be "fully operational" by Sept. 8. Dispensaries are the retail component of the multifaceted new industry where consumers — in this case patients and caregivers — actually go to pick up the product once they have a doctor-recommended and state-approved medical card. Each applicant had to pay a $5,000 upfront fee, and those selected must pay a $20,000 biennial renewal fee. Fees aside, selling medical cannabis is big business that hundreds of companies vied to join. There were more than 370 applications in total and 68 applicants for the five Franklin County sites alone, making it the most-competitive district. The winning dispensaries statistically had roughly a 7 percent chance of receiving a license. Most central Ohio communities — including Worthington, Hilliard and Dublin — passed resolutions banning any marijuana-related businesses from operating within city limits. With so many cities opposing the budding industry, Columbus was bound to get virtually all of the dispensary locations. During the application process, prospective operators had to file proof that the location was in a municipality without a moratorium or ban. The dispensaries are prohibited from being located within 500 feet of a school, church, public library, public playground, public park or community addiction-services provider. The dispensary locations across the state were broken up into four different regions and 28 districts in an effort to evenly disperse the dispensaries to better accommodate patients. Franklin County was a district in of itself, receiving the most dispensaries, along with Cuyahoga County. Columbus has been considering local code changes for dispensaries for more than a year, but the city administration still is working on them, said Tony Celebrezze, assistant director in the city’s Department of Building and Zoning Services. No deadline has been set for the code changes. “The dispensaries now have licenses and they’re going to be filing for site plans and building plans, and so we need to make sure any code changes that we want, that we get them into the code as soon as possible,” he said. So far, the three state agencies tasked with getting the program up and running have given provisional licenses to cultivators, doctors and now dispensaries. Testing labs and product processors tasked with turning the cannabis into edibles and other forms are still awaiting licenses. The Board of Pharmacy said it expects to launch its patient registry system sometime next month. It opened a toll-free helpline Monday to assist patients. Dispatch Reporter Rick Rouan contributed to this story. odaugherty@dispatch.com @_owendaugherty Listen to the latest Buckeye Forum politics podcast:<doc-sep>The executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association of Ohio, Thomas Rosenberger, says the board has ended months of speculation about where patients will be able to get medical marijuana. Three of 31 geographic districts won’t have dispensaries. They either received no applications or had no qualifying applicant.<doc-sep>The licenses are distributed across 28 geographic districts. Three districts, including one that covers Miami County, did not have viable or any applications. Ohio has licensed 56 locations that can sell medical marijuana once it becomes legal this fall. 2. When will the stores open? The licensees are expected to open storefront operations later this year when Ohio's new medical marijuana industry launches. In Montgomery County, three stores will open: Pure Ohio Wellness LLC, CannAscend Alternative and Schottenstein Aphria III LLC. In Greene County, Harvest of Ohio LLC will open in Beavercreek. Check out the rest of the stores and where they will be located. 3. How were the stores chosen? State pharmacy officials and North Highland, a consultant, spent six months reviewing and scoring applications based on business, operations and patient care plans as well as compliance with existing laws. » WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW: Why Ohio may have to break the law to launch its medical pot program Do you think medical #marijuana stores will be a positive move for #Ohio? https://t.co/HDDmbC5Bmr — Kara Driscoll (@KaraDDriscoll) June 5, 2018 4. How do patients receive access to the medical marijuana stores? The Board of Pharmacy expects to launch its patient registry in July. Also, the Board of Pharmacy went live Monday with its medical marijuana toll-free help line at 1-833-4OH-MMCP (1-833-464-6627). The help line will respond to questions from patients, caregivers and health professionals about adverse reactions to medical marijuana and other related issues. » POPULAR COVERAGE: Wright-Patt Credit Union solicited business from medical pot growers 5. Can firearm owners register to legally use medical cannabis in Ohio? No. People who register with the state of Ohio to legally use medical marijuana will be prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law, according to guidance released in December 2017 by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Marijuana is still a Schedule 1 controlled substance under federal law. Read more.<doc-sep>
Ohio officials are ready to announce where the state's 56 medical marijuana dispensaries will be located.The Board of Pharmacy is expected on Monday to name who will get the licenses in 28 geographic districts.The board has been getting background checks and verifying that proposed locations are at least 500 feet from schools and churches. Overall, there were 376 applications for the medical marijuana dispensaries.Of the 56 dispensaries, seven of them are expected to be announced for the Cincinnati area, with three of them in Hamilton County alone. The state has been double-checking that sites meet the requirement to be at least 500 feet away from schools and churches. The sites that are selected will be allowed to sell medical marijuana to qualified and registered patients who have received recommendations from a state-approved list of doctors.Ohio’s medical marijuana system is expected to be up and running by September, and Monday is a major step in the process. It has been a bumpy road so far, with fewer than 100 doctors so far approved to recommend cannabis to patients. "A year ago, I couldn't have this conversation with a patient,” said Dr. Hal Blatman with the Health and Wellness Center. “And now we can have all kinds of conversations, and you'd be amazed how many people would rather get off some of the medicine that's dangerous and use this instead. "Monday’s announcement was originally planned for May 22, but was delayed. The Ohio State Board of Pharmacy postponed the announcement while it finished up paperwork, like background checks. Ohio officials are ready to announce where the state's 56 medical marijuana dispensaries will be located. The Board of Pharmacy is expected on Monday to name who will get the licenses in 28 geographic districts. The board has been getting background checks and verifying that proposed locations are at least 500 feet from schools and churches. Overall, there were 376 applications for the medical marijuana dispensaries. Of the 56 dispensaries, seven of them are expected to be announced for the Cincinnati area, with three of them in Hamilton County alone. The state has been double-checking that sites meet the requirement to be at least 500 feet away from schools and churches. The sites that are selected will be allowed to sell medical marijuana to qualified and registered patients who have received recommendations from a state-approved list of doctors. Ohio’s medical marijuana system is expected to be up and running by September, and Monday is a major step in the process. It has been a bumpy road so far, with fewer than 100 doctors so far approved to recommend cannabis to patients. "A year ago, I couldn't have this conversation with a patient,” said Dr. Hal Blatman with the Health and Wellness Center. “And now we can have all kinds of conversations, and you'd be amazed how many people would rather get off some of the medicine that's dangerous and use this instead." Monday’s announcement was originally planned for May 22, but was delayed. The Ohio State Board of Pharmacy postponed the announcement while it finished up paperwork, like background checks.