Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Several companies that were denied Ohio licenses to grow medical marijuana are evaluating their legal options, and one company is threatening a lawsuit to seek relief.
Cincinnati-based CannAscend plans to file a lawsuit over what it contends were several "fatal flaws" in the state's process of evaluating applications for licenses. Jimmy Gould, CannAscend CEO and co-founder of Ohio's 2015 failed marijuana legalization measure, said state regulators need to redo the scoring process with new application reviewers.
Gould said he's spoken to several other cultivators who were denied licensing and who plan to take legal action.
"The notion that none of them or us received scores above 142 points is disturbing, at best, and will be proven to be in serious error in the extensive discovery process to accompany the onslaught of litigation that is forthcoming against the state from our group and dozens of others," Gould said in a Friday news conference.
The Ohio Department of Commerce on Thursday announced that 12 companies have been licensed to grow up to 25,000 square feet of medical marijuana for the state's new program. On Friday, the department released the scores awarded to all applicants, raising new questions about the process and whether it fairly awarded the coveted licenses.
Of note:
-Two winning companies (Parma Wellness Center and Harvest Grows) were not among the top 12 scoring applicants but were awarded licenses because they were minority-owned.
-73 of 109 applicants -- two-thirds -- were disqualified for various, unspecified reasons.
-One of the top 12 scoring companies was disqualified.
CannAscend's complaints
CannAscend scored 132.72 points, placing the company 52nd, and was disqualified for an unspecified reason.
Gould said it's more important that state regulators conduct a fair process than that they award him a license. He outlined 10 ways that he said the process fell short.
Among them:
-State officials provided information to a winning applicant that was not provided to anyone else.
-At least one winner plagiarized copyrighted information written by a consultant working with CannAscend.
-Winning applications omitted information that was considered mandatory.
Gould also claimed New York-based Terradiol won a license despite proposing a site in a place with a medical marijuana ban in place. The Stark County auditor's website lists the site as being in Plain Township, which has a medical marijuana moratorium in place.
But Plain Township Trustee Scott Haws said the site actually falls under Canton's planning and zoning process because of a longstanding cooperative economic development agreement between the two communities.
Department stands by process
Department of Commerce spokeswoman Stephanie Gostomski said there's no truth to Gould's allegation that officials gave information to one applicant and not others. She said the minority applicants were awarded licenses to meet the requirement in Ohio law that 15 percent of all medical marijuana business licenses be awarded to businesses primarily owned by racial minorities.
"The department conducted a comprehensive fair and impartial evaluation of all applications. Any applicant who didn't receive a license has the right to appeal that decision and the department is giving all the notifications to appeal those processes," Gostomski said.
Applicants were disqualified for many reasons, Gostomski said, ranging from a problems on a background check to not meeting the minimum scores in each of the five areas graded.
For example, a company could have received high marks on its business plan but not met the minimum score for its security plan.
Gostomski said the applications were reviewed by a combination of state employees and consultants, but she could not answer any other questions about the reviewers.
The department contracted with three consulting firms to advise on specific parts of the applications: Meade & Wing of Arizona, iCann Consulting of Ohio and B&B Grow Solutions of Illinois.
Too soon to sue
One of the groups potentially passed over for minority licensees isn't rushing to the courthouse. PharmaCann, which has cultivators in New York and Illinois, had the 12th highest score without being disqualified.
PharmaCann general counsel Jeremy Unruh said the company wants more information about how points were awarded. Unruh said lawsuits are inevitable when the state awards a limited number of licenses.
But he noted Ohio can easily allocate more licenses if necessary to resolve a dispute because the number is not set in state law.
"We're continuing to digest the results," Unruh said. "Our goal is not to take anything away from other successful groups. Our goal is if we are supposed to be included according to the law that the Department of Commerce recognizes it."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Prospective medical marijuana growers weigh legal options after being denied Ohio licenses | cleveland.com
Author: Jackie Borchardt
Contact: Cleveland.com Contact Us
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Cleveland OH Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - cleveland.com
Cincinnati-based CannAscend plans to file a lawsuit over what it contends were several "fatal flaws" in the state's process of evaluating applications for licenses. Jimmy Gould, CannAscend CEO and co-founder of Ohio's 2015 failed marijuana legalization measure, said state regulators need to redo the scoring process with new application reviewers.
Gould said he's spoken to several other cultivators who were denied licensing and who plan to take legal action.
"The notion that none of them or us received scores above 142 points is disturbing, at best, and will be proven to be in serious error in the extensive discovery process to accompany the onslaught of litigation that is forthcoming against the state from our group and dozens of others," Gould said in a Friday news conference.
The Ohio Department of Commerce on Thursday announced that 12 companies have been licensed to grow up to 25,000 square feet of medical marijuana for the state's new program. On Friday, the department released the scores awarded to all applicants, raising new questions about the process and whether it fairly awarded the coveted licenses.
Of note:
-Two winning companies (Parma Wellness Center and Harvest Grows) were not among the top 12 scoring applicants but were awarded licenses because they were minority-owned.
-73 of 109 applicants -- two-thirds -- were disqualified for various, unspecified reasons.
-One of the top 12 scoring companies was disqualified.
CannAscend's complaints
CannAscend scored 132.72 points, placing the company 52nd, and was disqualified for an unspecified reason.
Gould said it's more important that state regulators conduct a fair process than that they award him a license. He outlined 10 ways that he said the process fell short.
Among them:
-State officials provided information to a winning applicant that was not provided to anyone else.
-At least one winner plagiarized copyrighted information written by a consultant working with CannAscend.
-Winning applications omitted information that was considered mandatory.
Gould also claimed New York-based Terradiol won a license despite proposing a site in a place with a medical marijuana ban in place. The Stark County auditor's website lists the site as being in Plain Township, which has a medical marijuana moratorium in place.
But Plain Township Trustee Scott Haws said the site actually falls under Canton's planning and zoning process because of a longstanding cooperative economic development agreement between the two communities.
Department stands by process
Department of Commerce spokeswoman Stephanie Gostomski said there's no truth to Gould's allegation that officials gave information to one applicant and not others. She said the minority applicants were awarded licenses to meet the requirement in Ohio law that 15 percent of all medical marijuana business licenses be awarded to businesses primarily owned by racial minorities.
"The department conducted a comprehensive fair and impartial evaluation of all applications. Any applicant who didn't receive a license has the right to appeal that decision and the department is giving all the notifications to appeal those processes," Gostomski said.
Applicants were disqualified for many reasons, Gostomski said, ranging from a problems on a background check to not meeting the minimum scores in each of the five areas graded.
For example, a company could have received high marks on its business plan but not met the minimum score for its security plan.
Gostomski said the applications were reviewed by a combination of state employees and consultants, but she could not answer any other questions about the reviewers.
The department contracted with three consulting firms to advise on specific parts of the applications: Meade & Wing of Arizona, iCann Consulting of Ohio and B&B Grow Solutions of Illinois.
Too soon to sue
One of the groups potentially passed over for minority licensees isn't rushing to the courthouse. PharmaCann, which has cultivators in New York and Illinois, had the 12th highest score without being disqualified.
PharmaCann general counsel Jeremy Unruh said the company wants more information about how points were awarded. Unruh said lawsuits are inevitable when the state awards a limited number of licenses.
But he noted Ohio can easily allocate more licenses if necessary to resolve a dispute because the number is not set in state law.
"We're continuing to digest the results," Unruh said. "Our goal is not to take anything away from other successful groups. Our goal is if we are supposed to be included according to the law that the Department of Commerce recognizes it."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Prospective medical marijuana growers weigh legal options after being denied Ohio licenses | cleveland.com
Author: Jackie Borchardt
Contact: Cleveland.com Contact Us
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Cleveland OH Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - cleveland.com
