Ohio Begins Cannabis Application Process, But...
The US Census Bureau says there are 11,614,373 people in the state of Ohio. That's 23 million eyeballs glued to the screen this weekend as Lebron James and Co. work toward another NBA Finals. (And this is how you doom a post to the dustbin of history...)
Using the standard/conservative estimate of 2% of the population being medical cannabis users, one can easily calculate that there are 232,287 cannabis patients suffering from qualifying medical condition(s), who are anxiously waiting for Ohio's growers, processors, and dispensary owners to get the Ohio Cannabis Industry complete applications and begin producing the medicines now allowed by state law.
But wait - Julie Carr Smyth of the Miami Herald asks some unavoidable questions that we paraphrase here:
+ Only 24 licenses will be made available (12 large, 12 small, totaling 336,000 square feet for the entire state)?
+ Ohio has the highest licensing fee in the US? ($20,000 non refundable application fee; up to $180,000 license fee; and holding $250,000 in liquid assets ...)
+ There is an insurance requirement but the state board says no such product exists?
+ There is a banking requirement, but everyone knows that banks won't take cannabis money (to avoid running afoul of federal regulations)?
+ There is a university-lab-testing requirement, but no universities have agreed to participate?
And how many dispensaries will be allowed in the state, to serve the 232,287 patients:
Hey, Ohio: the longer you delay delivery of medicines to patients, the longer patients will either have to suffer or utilize the black market. Neither of which is acceptable. And both of which are excellent reasons to get this show on the road.