COLUMBUS, Ohio – Applications for medical marijuana dispensaries to begin serving both medical and recreational customers must open by Friday, but don’t expect dispensaries to begin serving adults aged 21 and older as soon as Saturday.
That’s because the state needs to verify that the businesses have updated security, have working point-of-sale systems that can distinguish between medical and recreational customers, have new employees correctly permitted, among other items, before they can sign off on the new dual-use license, said James Canepa, the superintendent of the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control.
While Ohioans wait for the chance to buy recreational weed for the first time, Canepa’s newly formed state agency is working behind the scenes to do the regulatory gymnastics necessary under Ohio’s new law to make it happen.
During an extended interview with Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer, Canepa discussed the program for adult-use, which Ohioans approved in last November’s election, what could bog it down and how he’s trying to ensure product will be available for medical patients in the initial days of the green rush.
READ MORE: Long lines, high prices: What to expect when recreational marijuana dispensary sales finally begin – cleveland.com
Envision the opening of dispensaries for recreational customers like a bell
