Ohio recreational cannabis sales apparently could begin as soon as Aug. 6, eight months after the state’s voters approved an adult-use market.
According to news outlets around the state, Ohio’s marijuana regulatory agency was informing existing medical cannabis dispensaries on Friday that their dual-use certificates of operation would arrive in time for them to potentially begin selling adult-use products beginning Tuesday.
However, a spokesperson for the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) wasn’t so definitive.
“There will be no sales over the weekend,” the DCC’s Jamie Crawford told The Columbus Dispatch on Friday.
“We will provide a formal announcement on Monday.”
But first, MMJ dispensaries must “tick a few final boxes,” the newspaper reported.
A DCC email obtained by the USA Today Network’s Ohio Bureau noted that “licensees must update their information in the state’s tracking system and tell local officials they intend to begin sales.”
Ohio voters approved adult-use sales last November.
But the market launch was delayed because, almost immediately after the election, the governor and lawmakers said they wanted changes in the law.
Then, of course, came the process of drafting regulations for adult-use sales.
In the meantime, the state made some regulatory changes to try to improve business opportunities for Ohio’s medical marijuana operators.
