Photo: Add Weed, Unsplash
The proposed marijuana statute will be on Nov. 7’s ballot alongside the reproductive rights amendment.
The citizen-initiated ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana, known as Issue 2, would allow adults to buy and grow their own marijuana for personal use, with restrictions.
Growing at home could only be for personal use – there’s no legal option to sell any of the permitted six home-grown and cultivated plants. Those who want to legally sell in the state will need to get one of the limited number of licenses that will become available should Issue 2 pass, and many are already spoken for.
Medical dispensaries get first dibs
According to the Issue 2 ballot text, existing medical cultivators and dispensaries will be the first to receive adult-use recreational licenses within nine months of the law being passed, assuming they fit all requirements. The law legalizing recreational marijuana in Ohio, should the ballot measure pass, will go into effect 30 days after the Nov. 7 election. Cultivators and dispensaries would also have the opportunity to expand their current operations, depending on their size.
Ohio currently has 104 active certificates of operation for medical dispensaries, according to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program.
Additional licenses won’t be doled out by the state until two years after the law takes effect, according to the law’s text.
The owner of the Cincinnati-based hemp delivery service “It’s Not Weed” is one of those hopeful purveyors.
While the products It’s Not Weed sells are totally legal, its owner, we’ll call him John, requested anonymity for this story.
“We call ourselves a recreational dispensary but we most closely resemble the hemp shops you see around town,” John said. “We’ve been in business for just over a year, and the products we sell – most of which are intoxicating, some of which are not – are all federally and statewide considered hemp.”
Minor cannabinoids, major benefits
It’s Not Weed offers CBD flower, Delta 8 flower and handfuls of other cannabinoids that, when tailored to the needs of the user, can be just as effective as marijuana.
“We sell edibles which are pretty much indistinguishable from what you’d drive across the border to Michigan to buy,” he said. “I’ve spoken to a handful of friends and customers who literally are looking for particular cannabinoids. I do have people who prefer these mixed-type flowers as well.”
The legal limitations of not being allowed to sell straight-up marijuana have allowed John to specialize in these minor cannabinoids, which he said have a valuable place behind a dispensary counter.
“Some are being studied for things like ADHD, there’s several others that help with other things too,” he said.
During a recent trip to Canada to visit friends, John said he visited a large dispensary out of professional curiosity.
“I was surprised to see that they don’t have anything that contains these more minor cannabinoids,” John said. “We actually offer a wider variety as a one-year-old company with a limited budget.”
Marijuana users who are seeking specific therapeutic qualities, or even first-time users, may need more options, according to John. He said an in-depth consultation about what the user is looking for may also be lost in these big-box dispensaries.
“Some people, especially these bigger-tier businesses, want to run the best cash flow they can get and they want efficiency,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that will suffer under that from that perspective.”
The push to pivot
While John's encyclopedic knowledge of the hemp spectrum is beneficial to those who aren't looking for marijuana, he said It's Not Weed was started with the intent of being in place if and when recreational marijuana were to be legalized in Ohio.
"I would like to pivot towards the recreational legal market,” he said.
But John worries that smaller hemp businesses like his won't be able to expand their operation to include marijuana when the fight for licenses begins.
“My fear is the private interests with lots of capital will take all the control,” he said. “It will be hard for someone like me, being in operations for a year with lots of experience in business and degrees to back it up, to enter that market and be able to survive in that market against these multi-state hundred million dollar companies like Verilife.”
Ohioans will vote on Issue 2 on Nov. 7.
"I would like to pivot towards the recreational legal market,” he said.
But John worries that smaller hemp businesses like his won't be able to expand their operation to include marijuana when the fight for licenses begins.
“My fear is the private interests with lots of capital will take all the control,” he said. “It will be hard for someone like me, being in operations for a year with lots of experience in business and degrees to back it up, to enter that market and be able to survive in that market against these multi-state hundred million dollar companies like Verilife.”
Ohioans will vote on Issue 2 on Nov. 7.
Follow CityBeat's staff news writer Madeline Fening on Twitter and Instagram.
Subscribe to CityBeat newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
Subscribe to CityBeat newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
