Ohio Expands Access to Medical Marijuana Dispensary Licenses

On April 19, 2021, the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy approved increasing the number of medical marijuana pharmacy licenses in the state by 73. If all 73 licenses are issued, the total number of pharmacy licenses increases to 130. There are currently 57 operational medical marijuana Pharmacies.

Obtaining a new license, however, not only requires the ability to compose a competitive application, it also requires good luck. Under the new framework, applicants in each district will receive a license through a lottery. Our company has helped successful applicants prepare and submit their medical marijuana applications in the past and is ready to do the same for new applicants in the process.

The new licenses will be awarded as part of an application process that the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy calls “RFA II”, which is expected to be announced in Spring / Summer 2021. The timing of this announcement will be determined when the board is pending. Rule changes regarding the application process will be finalized. These presentation Displays maps of the current and proposed districts and the number of pharmacy licenses per district. It also explains the process used by the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy in making decisions regarding new licenses for the distribution of medical marijuana. This document also contains frequently asked Questions via RFA II.

As with previous applications, RFA II applicants must identify the districts in which they are applying for a license, and provisional pharmacy licenses are issued based on those districts. The districts remain the same as in the previous RFA. Dispensary applications are assessed to determine who is a qualified applicant.

All realizable applications are then entered into a lottery system in which individual lotteries are held for each pharmacy district with available licenses. The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy believes that the lottery system will result in a more equitable and rational system for qualified applicants as the board considers objective rather than subjective criteria.

Ohio currently has 31 medical marijuana dispensaries. While the districts for the RFA II process will not change, the number of medical marijuana dispensaries will increase significantly in certain districts. For example, Hamilton County has increased from 3 to 11, Franklin County increased from 6 to 15, and Cuyahoga increased from 5 to 12.

The new RFA II rules do not change the number of pharmacy licenses a current owner of a medical marijuana dispensary may hold. That number stays at five. Still, those with fewer than five current licenses may consider purchasing additional licenses to gain more market share in a growing industry.

For more information on RFA II, visit the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program website (www.medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov) when the application process is announced in spring / summer 2021.