Applications open for dual-use cannabis licenses, but no sign when rec sales may begin

The story is being republished with permission from Crain’s Cleveland Business and written by Jeremy Nobile. 

Ohio on Friday, June 7, officially opened applications for dual-use cannabis licenses that will permit existing medical marijuana dispensaries to conduct nonmedical sales with adults aged 21 and older.

As Jim Canepa, superintendent for the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control, detailed in an April interview with Crain’s, the expectation is that these licenses can be awarded in relatively short order and that rec sales could begin later this month.

That is not guaranteed, however, because of many factors at play.

“The (DCC) will review and process the applications roughly in the order that they have been received. Our focus up to this point has been to make dual-use applications available to medical permit holders by today’s deadline as stated in the voter-approved initiated statute,” said DCC spokesperson James Crawford.

“As for what happens after that, it is too early to say how quickly dual-use permits will be turned around,” he added. “That is due to a number of factors, including: whether the applicant files a complete application; when inspection requirements are met; (and) when point-of-sale integration is completed, which will be necessary at each dual-use facility to ensure sales are properly distinguishing between medical and nonmedical sales at checkout, as well as taking into account the excise tax that will be part of nonmedical sales.”

Cannabis companies have been preparing for these changes for months. Several who spoke with Crain’s in May indicated that they had processes for retail shops to sell to nonmedical consumers, including enabling proper tax collection at points of sale and tweaking floor plans to allow dedicated lanes for medical patients.

These dual-use licenses allow adult-use sales to commence ahead of regulators finalizing all rules for nonmedical sales in the coming months.

In effect, this means rec sales will be conducted subject to medical rules. As such, there won’t be any pre-rolled products available, for example.

Smoking is technically not a permitted form of consumption under Ohio’s medical rules. That is why the market here has not had any pre-rolled products, like joints or cones, and all cannabis flower or oils and the like have been intended for vaporization.

Based on the licensing processing and site checks that must still happen, Crawford emphasized that “there will be no one singular day” when nonmedical sales are presently expected to begin.

“We will start issuing licenses and it will be up to the retailer based on staffing, stock and other considerations as to which day they will begin sales,” he said. “Given the foundation already laid through the Medical Marijuana Control Program, current medical permit holders positioned to apply for dual-use status who have already undergone many of the comprehensive checks are anticipated to have a much quicker turnaround for issuance of licenses over the summer.”

DCC will review applications in the order in which they have been received with applications from cultivators, processors and testing labs receiving priority to help ensure an efficient supply chain, according to DCC.

“Certificates of operation will be issued in batches based on the order in which a complete application is received and when a licensee meets all certificate of operation requirements,” Crawford said. “An existing location that has been operating under the medical rules will be able to convert a provisional dual-use license into a certificate of operation relatively quickly since they have already met many of the requirements set forth in that program. Again, there will not be one singular day when sales begin.”