COLUMBUS, Ohio – If the full legislature would have passed a recreational marijuana bill this month, medical cannabis dispensaries would have been ready to sell product for adult use by early January, Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday morning.
The General Assembly is determined to make changes to the initiated statute legalizing adult-use cannabis that voters approved Nov. 7. The bill preferred by DeWine and passed by the Ohio Senate would have allowed the state’s existing 114 licensed medical dispensaries to sell to Ohioans aged 21 and older while the state establishes regulations and licenses for the about 230 additional dispensaries permitted under the initiated statute.
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The Senate passed House Bill 86 on Dec. 6 and sent it to the House, which adjourned for the year without acting on it. Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens has said there’s plenty of time to fine tune the initiated statute, since adult-use dispensaries won’t be ready until late 2024.
The House, instead, prefers legislation that it says is more faithful to what voters passed in November. House Bill 354 would maintain the number of home grow plants at 12 per household, instead