A gaggle of medicinal hashish operators and advocates in Ohio have joined forces in “robust opposition” to a invoice that will dramatically alter the state’s medical marijuana program. The measure, Senate Invoice 9 (SB 9), was launched by state Senators Steve Huffman and Kirk Schuring on January 11.
The invoice goals to replace Ohio’s medical marijuana regulation, which was handed by the state legislature and signed into regulation in 2016. However this week, the Ohio Medical Hashish Business Affiliation (OMCIA) got here out towards SB 9, saying that the rise in medical marijuana dispensaries and hashish cultivation area included within the measure would result in an oversaturation of provide that might cripple the business.
“SB 9 punishes corporations like mine which have invested a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of growth {dollars} into our state,” Daniel Kessler, co-owner and CEO of medical marijuana cultivator and processor Rivera Creek mentioned in an announcement from the OMCIA. “As an alternative of decreasing paperwork, this invoice does the alternative by including an extra stage of oversight within the type of a fee of lifetime political appointees.”
The group says that the invoice would add an extra two million sq. toes of medical hashish cultivation area and add greater than 60 new medical marijuana dispensary licenses to the 130 permits already issued. The laws additionally provides cultivation licenses for some impartial hashish processors, in addition to processing licenses for stage 2 cultivators.
“What we’ve discovered is that most of the growers need to increase and develop extra,” Huffman said when the laws was launched earlier this yr. “There’s extra growers, there’s extra demand. They put an utility into the Division of Commerce, and it sits there for 18 months, two years. Hopefully this takes the paperwork out of this and streamlines issues and make it a better-functioning business.”
Ohio Group Says Elevated Capability Pointless
However the OMCIA says that the elevated manufacturing capability would come at a time when “many present cultivators have scaled again their manufacturing by 30% – 50% and aren’t working at full capability.” The group additionally famous that Ohio’s present medical marijuana program laws have already got provisions permitting present operators to increase their operations because the market grows.
“We’re against the large enlargement outlined in SB 9 as a result of it lacks the information justifying that such an enlargement is required,” mentioned Bryan Murray, government vp of presidency relations at multistate hashish operator Acreage Holdings. “The detrimental influence of oversupply in markets throughout the nation can’t be overstated – and opening the floodgates in contradiction to market realities can be detrimental to the business in Ohio.”
Kessler added that “the enlargement measures within the invoice would add immense provide to an already over-supplied market. Regardless of my firm’s high-quality product popularity, we at the moment have a whole lot of kilos of product in our stock that we can not promote. Even at wholesale pricing, the demand just isn’t there. If the invoice passes in its present state, it’s probably that the business will crumble, and the one winner would be the unlawful illicit market.”
The invoice creates a brand new state company inside the Ohio Division of Commerce, the Division of Marijuana Management, to control the state’s medical marijuana program. The laws additionally creates a 13-member fee answerable for oversight of the brand new company and the medical program. Underneath present regulation, the state’s medical marijuana program is overseen by the Ohio Division of Commerce, the State Medical Board of Ohio and the Ohio Board of Pharmacy.
Senate Invoice 9 would additionally add autism spectrum dysfunction, arthritis, migraines, persistent muscle spasms and opioid use dysfunction to the state’s listing of medical situations that qualify a affected person to make use of hashish medicinally. At the moment, the listing of qualifying situations contains greater than two dozen critical medical situations together with most cancers, persistent ache, AIDS, Parkinson’s illness, PTSD and terminal diseases. The measure additionally permits medical marijuana use by sufferers who produce other debilitating medical situations that may be handled with medicinal hashish, as decided by their doctor.
The OMCIA notes that the variety of contributors in Ohio’s medical marijuana program “has remained stagnant at a mean of 163,000 lively sufferers” and argues that including extra manufacturing and retail capability just isn’t wanted. As an alternative, the group referred to as for a number of adjustments to make medical marijuana accessible to extra sufferers.
“Ohio’s stagnant affected person base doesn’t warrant SB 9’s extra licensure and enlargement of cultivation area,” mentioned Matt Shut, government director of OMCIA. “The very last thing we’d like is extra provide. As an alternative, laws ought to give attention to addressing our business’s most important problem: extreme limitations to affected person participation.”
The OMCIA recommends including nervousness, insomnia and melancholy as qualifying situations for this system and for annual medical marijuana identification card charges to be lowered or eradicated. The commerce group can be calling for medical marijuana suggestions to be legitimate for 3 years as an alternative of the present one yr and for sufferers with incurable situations to be granted lifelong approval.
Additional suggestions from the group embody eliminating state, county and native taxes on medical marijuana purchases, employment protections for medical marijuana cardholders and a prohibition on intoxicating hemp cannabinoids similar to delta-8 THC from being offered exterior the state’s regulated medical marijuana program.
SB 9 is at the moment into consideration by the Senate Common Authorities Committee, with a listening to on the laws scheduled for this week.