Ohio Medical Marijuana Patients Get Priority Over Recreational Customers

COLUMBUS – With recreational cannabis sales underway across Ohio as of Tuesday, the non-medical, adult-use products are coming at a premium.

Owners of medical marijuana dispensaries and others in the industry have said the sky-high costs are to stave off potential shortages down the line, but that medical card holders have nothing to worry about.

For existing dispensaries to start selling recreationally, plans for existing medical patients were part of the application process.

Dual-Use Licensure Requirements

“In order to get that dual-use licensure, you have to ensure by rule that you can continue to accommodate medical patients, so every dispensary who is a dual-use dispensary right now has to segregate a portion of the inventory solely for medical patients,” said Tom Haren, spokesperson for the trade association the Ohio Cannabis Coalition.

Aside from inventory, dual-use dispensaries have built in other ways to prioritize them, Haren said in a Wednesday interview.

“Some dispensaries are opening early just for medical patients. Some dispensaries have separate lines just for medical patients,” he said.

Fewer than 100 dispensaries had their dual-use certificates of operation Tuesday, but more were set to get their certificates throughout the week, according to Jamie Crawford, a spokesperson for the Department of Commerce’s Division of Cannabis Control.

Those dispensaries are operating under the medical program’s rules through the fall, meaning certain products aren’t yet available to anyone—including pre-rolled joints or high-potency concentrates.

According to Division of Cannabis Control data as of last Thursday, the majority of licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in Ohio had received dual-use licensure status. But Haren estimated that as many as 150 new dispensaries could pop up in the next 12 months, which would drive the price of non-medical products down, he said.