Ohio awards 11 medical marijuana cultivation licenses

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Ohio handed out its first 11 cultivation licenses for the state’s fledgling medical marijuana program, but it could be months before the first crops are planted.

All the licenses awarded Friday were so-called Level II permits given to smaller growers who are allowed to cultivate up to 3,000 square feet. That’s a small portion of the anticipated total cultivation space in the state.

Before any cultivation can begin, however, growers have to get their businesses up and running and a state team must make facility visits.

Up to a dozen larger growers for sites up to 25,000 square feet are expected to be announced later this month.

The Level II licensees, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, are:

  • Fire Rock, with sites in Columbus, Canton and Akron (score: 178.92 points)
  • FN Group Holdings, Ravenna (176.76)
  • Mother Grows Best, Canton (172)
  • OhiGrow, Toledo (168.76)
  • Ancient Roots, Wilmington (168.76)
  • Ohio Clean Leaf, Dayton and Carroll (160.56)
  • Ascension BioMedical, Oberlin (157.08)
  • Agri-Med Ohio, Langsville (156.60)
  • Paragon Development Group, Huber Heights (154.56)
  • Hemma, Monroe (151.28)
  • Galenas, Akron (148.92)

Each license is for one site only, and companies that applied for multiple sites have 10 business days to pick the location for their  license, the newspaper reported.

Regulators received 76 applications for Level II licenses and 109 applications for Level 1 licenses.

The application process for cannabis producer and MMJ dispensary licenses will open in the next couple of months, according to the Plain Dealer.

– Associated Press