State identifies medical pot applicants

Ohio legislators passed a law last June allowing medical cannabis to be prescribed under certain conditions to patients suffering one or more of 20 qualifying medical conditions.

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Potential cultivators had until Friday to apply for a license that will be needed to grow medical marijuana legally in Ohio. In its release, the state did not identify where the cultivator-applicants plan to build their facilities, unless it made a distinction between two proposed facilities to be built by one company.

The state divides would-be cultivators by the size of the facilities they wish to build. Level I cultivators will be permitted to operate an initial marijuana cultivation area up to 25,000 square feet. Level II cultivators will be permitted to operate an initial marijuana cultivation area of 3,000 square feet.

The department said it received 109 Level I applications and 76 Level II applications. From these, the state will award up to 12 Level I and up to 12 Level II certificates of operation.

CannAscend Ohio LLC, which has said it wants to build a Level 1 cultivation operation in Wilmington, is among the applicants.

An FW Green Investments LLC has apparently applied to build in both Germantown and Huber Heights, according to the state’s list of applicants.

The city of Dayton has six applicants that meet city and state zoning rules, Keith Klein, senior development specialist for Dayton, told this newspaper late last month. A seventh applicant was pending.

Most Dayton applicants are planning large sites, Klein said at the time. Such cultivation facilities must be at least 500 feet away from schools, churches, libraries and playgrounds, he said.

Given that the state will approve just 24 cultivators statewide, Klein said he would be surprised if more than three were approved in Dayton.

In Yellow Springs, officials have been talking with Illinois-based medical cannabis company Cresco Labs about plans in that village.

Yellow Springs Council President Karen Wintrow said last month that village leaders have been “incredibly impressed” with Cresco and some staff have visited the company’s facilities in Illinois.

The company offers a business and a product, including edibles, that would be beneficial to village and area residents, she said.

Charlie Bachtell, CEO of Cresco Lab, told the Dayton Daily News recently that medical marijuana is an unmet need for many patients.

Carlisle officials in Warren County said they have been contact with a potential cultivator, but the group has not been identified.

Messages seeking comment were left with a Department of Commerce spokeswoman, Bachtell and Jimmy Gould, one of the principal investors behind CannAscend Ohio. A message was also left with someone identified by the state as a contact for FW Green Investments.

APPLICANTS FOR CULTIVATION LICENSE