Pubdate: Wed, 05 Jul 2017
Source: Blade, The (Toledo, OH)
Copyright: 2017 The Blade
Contact:  http://www.toledoblade.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/48

NEARLY 200 APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED FOR CHANCE TO GROW MEDICAL
MARIJUANA

COLUMBUS - Nearly 200 prospective medical marijuana growers submitted
applications to the state for cultivation licenses, but the Department
of Commerce won't say yet where those applicants want to operate.

The department announced Wednesday that 185 applications were received
by the state last month for two types of licenses: level II
cultivators for grow operations with cultivation areas of 3,000 square
feet or less, and level I cultivators, which can have up to 25,000
square feet. The state will issue 12 of each licenses.

The commerce department announced that there were 109 level I
applications, and 76 level II applications. The deadline for level II
cultivators was June 16, while the cutoff for applications for larger
operations was Friday.

The state released the names of businesses that applied for the
licenses, a contact name and the type of license. But more relevant
information about the applications, including where the businesses
propose to operate, has not been released, despite repeated requests
by Ohio media outlets.

House Bill 523, the Ohio law that last year legalized marijuana for
medical use only, left it up to state agencies to determine the rules
for medical marijuana's cultivation, processing, and sale. Licenses
will be announced in September.

Previously, commerce department staff have said the applicants weren't
public documents because the department had not actually used them.
When asked Wednesday how the department could continue to argue the
applications weren't public when the department had compiled a list of
application names, a spokesman said the list of names was all she had
to release, and that she would attempt to get in contact with a
departmental lawyer who has worked on the medical marijuana
cultivation program.
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MAP posted-by: Matt