The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
“There’s approximately 324,000 Ohioans who are registered,” Schuring explained after a committee hearing last month, “but only about 160,000 are actually using the program.”Schuring and Huffman argue people who should be in the program are having trouble getting a physician recommendation. Those who have a recommendation, they add, don’t have enough options nearby. Once patients get to a dispensary, the sponsors argue, they face prices that can be prohibitive.
“What this is going to do is it’s going to cause a cannibalization within the market,” he said, “where there’s not enough market and not enough patients.” Riviera Creek is a large medical marijuana cultivator and processor in Youngstown. CEO Daniel Kessler contended there’s no shortage of supply in Ohio’s marijuana market — he said Riviera is already holding back hundreds of pounds it can’t sell.
SB 9 orders the Division of Marijuana Control to award licenses within a specified timeframe. But the law does direct the division to do so based on merit.On Wednesday the bill comes up for its third committee hearing in the Senate. Members will hear from opponents of the measure.