Ohio plans to double medical cannabis dispensaries |

A senior medical cannabis official in Ohio said last week that the state is looking to significantly increase the number of dispensary licenses available to meet growing demand.

Cleveland.com reports that Justin Sheridan, director of medical marijuana for the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, said Thursday that “regulators want to double the number of dispensary licenses in the state to meet patient demand, which has been much higher since then.” than expected the program has been put into operation.”

According to the website, there are currently 58 medicinal cannabis dispensaries in Ohio. In a speech at Ohio State University last week, Sheridan said the board is currently “working to add 73 new pharmacy licenses,” Cleveland.com reported.

According to the website, Sheridan said that in November the State Board of Pharmacy “received 1,400 applications for new dispensaries” and that the “Ohio Lottery conducted a drawing to determine which businesses would receive provisional pharmacy licenses.”

The move to expand the number of dispensaries is a testament to the success of Ohio’s medical cannabis program, which began selling in 2019, three years after lawmakers there passed a measure legalizing the treatment.

When the first medical cannabis dispensaries opened in Ohio, “regulators were projecting 12,000 to 24,000 patients in the first two years,” according to Cleveland.com.

But instead, as of February last year, there were “136,507 registered patients,” the website said, and today “there are 252,139.”

“In addition to more patients, some areas of the state are without pharmacies, including several rural areas in northwest and western Ohio. Additionally, some areas in Southeast Ohio have only one multi-county pharmacy,” the website reads, detailing the problem facing patients in the state.

Last month, the state’s Medical Marijuana Department of Commerce reported that the medical cannabis program had generated approximately $725 million in revenue.

Under the state’s medical cannabis law, treatment is available to patients with a variety of qualifying conditions, including: AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cachexia, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy or other seizure disorders, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, Hepatitis C, Huntington’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable, Parkinson’s disease, positive status for HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell disease, spasticity, spinal cord disease or injury, terminal illness, Tourette’s syndrome, traumatic brain injury and ulcerative colitis.

In recent years, lawmakers have grappled with whether or not to include autism on the list of qualifying conditions, as 17 other states have.

Two years ago, the state medical association rejected a request to add autism to the list of qualifying conditions after hearing testimonies from proponents and opponents. The latter group included a group of children’s hospitals in the country.

“The inclusion of autism and anxiety as disorders has the potential to negatively impact the health and well-being of thousands of children in Ohio,” Sarah Kincaid of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association told regulators on the board at the time. “There is little clear evidence that marijuana or its derivatives are beneficial for patients with autism and anxiety, but there is a significant association between cannabis use and the onset or worsening of several psychiatric disorders.”

Last month, lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation that would allow patients with autism to obtain medical cannabis.

“This law is a direct result of the needs and wants of people in Ohio who are on the autism spectrum,” said Juanita Brent, one of the bill’s co-sponsors. “It will help ensure legal access to an herbal solution free from expensive prescription drugs or other outdated and sometimes harmful treatments.”