104 firms seek to be marijuana processor
New law lets state hand out up to 40 licenses by Sept. 9.
Ohio’s new COLUMBUS — medical marijuana program received 104 applications for up to 40 processor licenses, the state announced Wednes- day.
The list of applicants discloses only the company and contact names — not the full application details.
But there are familiar players listed, including 19 of 24 companies that were awarded cultivator licenses earlier this year.
Cresco Labs LLC, which landed a Level 1 cultiva- tor license for a growing factory in Yellow Springs, also applied for a processor license.
Likewise, Pure Ohio Well- ness LLC, which received a Level 1 grower license for a facility near Springfield, is also vying for a processor license.
Jimmy Gould, chief executive of CannAscend, which applied for a processor license, did not win a culti- vator license and has threatened to sue the state and place full legalization of mar- ijuana on the November 2018 ballot.
Processors take raw material from cultivators and turn it into oils, edibles and other items to be sold at dispensaries.
The Ohio Department of Commerce can issue up to 40 processor licenses anytime before Sept. 9, 2018. Each applicant had to pay a $10,000 application fee.
If they win a license, they’ll pay a $90,000 certificate of operation fee and then annual renewal fees of $100,000.
Applications will be scored based on plans for operations, quality, security, finances and business.
Ohio voters rejected a marijuana legalization proposal in November 2015.
Lawmakers passed a medical marijuana law in 2016 and regulators have worked for the past year and a half to establish rules, review applications, award licenses and more.
The program is supposed to be fully operational by September 2018.
— Clark and COLUMBUS Montgomery counties will participate in a new pilot program to recruit foster families, according to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeW- ine’s office.
Eight counties particularly hard-hit by the opioid addic- tion crisis were selected for the program, which will be funded by a $1 million grant. The money will cover a fulltime staff member in each county who will be respon- sible for family search and recruitment.
“Ohio still has a great need for families to help children in foster care. These can be biological family members or those who feel called to serve children in need,” said DeW- ine in a written statement.
The other counties selected for the program are: Allen, Cuyahoga, Fairfield, High- land, Summit and Stark.
Roughly half of all chil- dren in Ohio’s foster care system are there because of parental substance abuse and there are nearly 3,000 more kids in foster care now than when the opioid crisis began seven years ago, DeWine’s office said. While there are 15,000 children in foster care, Ohio has less than 7,200 foster families.
When a county public children services agency determines a child can no lon- ger live safely at home, local courts step in to give cus- tody to the agency, which then looks for kinship care or placement in a licensed foster home.
The Public Children Ser- vices Association of Ohio reports that children are remaining in protective custody longer because of the time it takes for drug addicted parents to recover. Ohio ranks last in the nation for state funding in children services, according to PCSAO.