Medical pot states offer lessons for Ohio
One business owner in Maryland says results are ‘unbelieveable.’
ROCKVILLE, MD. — From the outside, the building is nondescript, your typical medical office nestled near an acupuncturist, a doctor’s office and steps from a CVS pharmacy.
From the inside, however, Bill Askinazi says he is watching medical miracles.
An example: The 35-year-old man, toes on both feet pointed inward, hobbling in on crutches. He’d been suffering muscle spasticity so long that his hands were knots, clenched tight.
A few days later, he returned, having received his first dose of medical marijuana. One hand was unclenched fully, the other partially. He walked in without crutches, on his own two feet.
“It was unbelievable,” said Askinazi, principal of Potomac Holistics, one of the state’s 22 licensed medical marijuana dispensaries.
Pay attention, Ohio: This may be you in a few months.
Maryland legalized medical marijuana in 2014, and now the state is seeing the results, with dispensaries around the state slowly opening. Ohio in 2016 took that same leap and hopes to have its program fully functioning by September.
If Ohio’s launch mirrors the one in Maryland, the dispensaries will encounter some hurdles other businesses wouldn’t mind having: demand that exceeds supply and a customer base willing to drive as much as 50 miles for the product.
Since Potomac Holistics opened Dec. 1, they’ve seen steady traffic. Those who receive “recommendations” for medical marijuana — federal law bars doctors from technically prescribing the drug — are buzzed in from outside, signing in with a guard and waiting in a warm, inviting and locked waiting room before beinggiven their dose and being sent on their way.
There are reminders showing some of the uniqueness of these businesses. Dispensary operators like Askinazi look to buy, not lease, space to guard against fickle landlords having a change of heart and putting them out on the street. Community outreach is a must, and so too is secu- rity, mandated in the state regulations.
But Askinazi, who became convinced about the mer- its of medical marijuana 20 years ago when a synthetic form helped ease his son’s debilitating gastrointestinal condition, said whatever the hurdles, the work is worth it.
“We are absolutely thrilled we got into this,” he said.
In all, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission has licensed 14 growers and 12 processors as well.
One of those growers, Green Leaf Medical in Fred- erick, Md., will harvest its first batch Jan. 4, according to Philip Goldberg, CEO of the company.
The com p any’s 45,000-square-foot-plant, tucked in a massive build- the plants an incredibly seriing formerly used as a print- ous business. Each batch ing press, is a far cry from will undergo extensive test- what one might imagine a ing as required by law, and pot farm would be. Each outside of each room is an room features a computer- incredibly thorough binder ized box that closely mon- describing conditions of the itors the conditions of the room and the plants three room – everything from light times a day. One room fealevels to carbon dioxide levtures the “mother” plants – els. The plant features an plants whose clippings are extensive, state-of-the-art used to breed new plants. irrigation system. Security The farm smells more like is so tight that some rooms a greenhouse than Grate- require two employee badges ful Dead concert. to enter. Goldberg’s current Some of the plants would pride and joy is an LED light- hardly be considered a drug ing system – the company is in the traditional sense. experimenting with using “You could smoke this LED to grow the plant. whole table and not get a
Despite the names of the buzz,” Goldberg said of one plants themselves – labels plant, used to treat epileptic on some plants designate seizures in children. them as “AK-47” or “Acapulco Starting t he business Gold” – Goldberg considers wasn’t easy. Goldberg and his brother ner million 120 Kevin investors in and investments had business — to in secure order – part- from $11 to get regulation, started. They inspection face intense and oversight – necessary, he said, because of the medicinal purpose of the product.
And it takes their product 3 1/2 months to get to harvest. That’s before the lab testing and all the additional steps needed to get the plant to market.
“We’re trying to put out clean medicine here,” he said. “There can’t be met- als, can’t be mold, can’t be pesticides.”
And they’re just getting started, he said.
“What patients are going to see on day one is going to look so different on day 180, so different on day 365,” he said. Ohio, which passed its law in 2016, is one of 29 states to permit the medical use of marijuana, according to the National Council on State Legislatures. The Ohio Department of Commerce and State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy are required to have Ohio’s Medical Mari- juana Control Program fully operational by September 2018. Last month, the state reported that it had received 370 applications to operate 60 dispensaries. It has issued 12 provisional licenses for large-scale marijuana grow operations out of 109 appli- cants. Green Leaf was among those rejected. Goldberg said he was appalled at reports that one of the three people on the board that reviewed Ohio grower applications had a felony drug conviction. A second had business ties to one of the license winners. He said he and some others who have established cultivator businesses plan to appeal.
They do not, however, plan to file an injunction that would stop the process. “We would never do that, because it hurts patients,” he said.
Not all believe in the benefits of medical marijuana. Marcie Seidel, executive director of Drug-Free Action Alliance, wonders how much of the effectiveness of medical cannabis is truly medical and how much is placebo. She also worries that it’s normalizing drugs for a new generation of Americans.
“There’s a sales job going on out there that medical marijuana is a panacea,” she said. “I’m concerned about patients not being duped into doing something that may end up doing more harm than good or prevent them from more nology they’re coming tried dealing to and deal forward proven with.” with what tech- for a
watched But Askinazi people said come he’s in for headaches, insomnia, loss of appetite and nausea. He has personal reason to be invested: Twenty years ago, his son, then in middle school, had a debilitating gastrointestinal condition. He couldn’t eat. He lost 25 pounds. He was finally prescribed Marinol, a synthetic marijuana. “It saved his life,” Askinazi said. Now, he said, he’s seeing others benefit. One of his partners came into his office the other day in tears. The 90-year-old mother of a friend had received her dose. “And they were just so grateful for the medicine we were able to provide them,” he said.