The Ohio Department of Administrative Services on Feb. 3 started advertising for bids for a system that can track medical marijuana plants from seeds to cultivation to harvest as well as track the cannabis through the testing labs, processors and dispensaries.
The state is also looking for a system that will tie into existing government licensing, regulating and revenue reporting systems, such as Ohio’s prescription drug monitoring database.
Ohio DAS will accept bids until 1 p.m. March 10 and expects to award a contract or contracts in the spring.
Here are some other key dates in the Ohio’s new medical marijuana program:
May 6: Rules governing growers will be adopted. Ohio expects to license 12 large growers and six smaller cultivators.
Sept. 8: Rules governing processors, testing labs, dispensaries, physicians, patients and caregivers will be adopted.
September 2018: The program is slated to become operational.
There appears to be keen public interest in the upcoming rules. The Ohio Medical Marijuana Program collected 31 pages of summarized comments on the dispensary rules, 199 pages of comments on the proposed rules for physicians, and a six-page spreadsheet on comments received on proposed rules for cultivators.
Public comment on the proposed rules for patients, caregivers and processors was scheduled to close at 5 p.m. Friday. State officials said a summary of those comments would likely be available in a week.
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