Proposed Rules would allow 40 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Ohio
Posted by Sagar Satapathy on December 23, 2016.
As many as forty medical marijuana dispensaries would be allowed across Ohio under proposed rules from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. That number is far fewer than the 1,150 dispensaries proposed in a medical-marijuana ballot issue defeated by Ohio voters in 2015.
Proposals released on Thursday by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy also say that the state may expand the number of dispensaries allowed to operate in the state after Sept. 8, 2018.
According to the proposed rules, licensed dispensary owners would pay a $5,000 application fee and an $80,000 license fee every two years. Applicants must show that they have liquid assets totaling at least $250,000.
The dispensary owners would have to hire a clinical director who is a pharmacist or licensed prescriber to train employees, develop patient educational materials and be on-call or on the premises during operating hours.
The rules also state that doctors that prescribe marijuana will need to sit through two hours of medical training and will be unable to have any business interest in an operating dispensary.
Employees of the dispensaries would also have to report all medical marijuana purchases to the state prescription database, OARRS, within 5 minutes of dispensing a product. However, patient delivery services would not be allowed.
In addition, the dispensaries will be required to report medical-marijuana sales to the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System, which tracks drug prescribed and recommended by physicians in the state.
The dispensaries will be allowed to operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Notably, House Bill 523, the medical-marijuana law signed this year by Gov. John Kasich, took effect on Sept. 8. The law will allow people with any of 21 specified diseases or conditions to get a recommendation from a doctor to obtain medical marijuana in the form of plant material, oil, tincture, edible or a patch. However, smoking and growing marijuana at home are prohibited.
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