5:03 p.m EST: This story was updated to include a comment from one of the provisional licensees, Columbia Care.
Ohio is getting closer to launching its medical cannabis program after the state announced the latest recipients of provisional cultivation licenses on Nov. 30.
Twelve cultivators were awarded provisional licenses to cultivate up to 25,000 square feet of medical cannabis, including Illinois-based Cresco Labs, Arizona-based Harvest Grows and New York’s Columbia Care.
"Columbia Care is honored and excited to be part of Ohio’s medical marijuana program and begin the important work of investing in Ohio and helping patients get the medicine they need," Columbia Care said in a statement. "Today’s decision will allow Columbia Care to bring its national track-record of compliance and best-in-class care to support the launch of this important program. We look forward to working with the Mt. Orab community and others in Ohio in the coming months."
Harvest Grows was the only recipient to have two sites approved (one in Cleveland, the other in Hamilton Township), but the company must choose which site it will use for its cultivation operation within 10 days, according to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program.
Ohio-based Buckeye Relief, which applied for a site in Eastlake in Lake County, received the highest marks at 179.28, while Harvest Grows was the last to make the cut with a score of 142.04.
Here is the full list of approved sites:
• Buckeye Relief LLC (Eastlake, Lake County)
• Grow Ohio Pharmaceuticals LLC (Newton Township, Muskingum County)
• OPC Cultivation LLC (Huron, Erie County)
• Riviera Creek Holdings LLC (Youngstown, Mahoning County)
• Pure Ohio Wellness LLC (Springfield, Clark County)
• Columbia Care OH LLC (Mt. Orab, Brown County)
• Terradiol Ohio LLC (Canton, Stark County)
• Standard Wellness Company LLC (Gibsonburg, Sandusky County)
• AT-CPC of Ohio LLC (Akron, Summit County)
• Cresco Labs Ohio LLC (Yellow Springs, Greene County)
• Parma Wellness Center LLC (Parma, Cuyahoga County)
• Harvest Grows LLC (Hamilton Township, Lawrence County)
• Harvest Grows LLC (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)
These 12 cultivators join the Level I license awardees—which are allowed to cultivate canopies up to 3,000 square feet—of medical cannabis in the Buckeye State. Dispensary license applications were due on Nov. 17 and are currently being reviewed by state officials. Three hundred and seventy applications for dispensary licenses were submitted.
More information about the scoring process and the winning applications can be found on the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program site.
Top image: © Christian Hinkle | Dreamstime.com
