Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
With medical marijuana slated to become legal in Ohio on Sept. 8, potential cannabis entrepreneurs are faced with two major challenges: growing an entire pot industry from the ground up, and avoiding being choked out by state bureaucrats.
Those challenges comprised the major theme of the Ohio Cannabis Association's public forum Wednesday night. The group serves as the first marijuana trade association in the state. It has been in the works since 2014, but only truly came into existence in April, said Brian Wright, the group's spokesperson.
About 400 attendees filled the Ohio Union's Great Hall Meeting Room for the event. The meeting featured many of the key players in Ohio's marijuana policy battle within the past year - including Sen. Kenny Yuko, a Democrat from Richmond Heights who helped draft the piece of legislation which became the state's medical marijuana policy. Also speaking was Jimmy Gould, a marijuana investor behind last year's Issue 3 marijuana initiative and a member of this year's Ohio House Medicinal Marijuana Task Force.
"Our work is far from done," Yuko said. "We did not finish on May 25. We just started and with your willingness to help, we're going to keep on fighting."
State Rep. Kirk Schuring, a Republican from Canton who drafted the House version of the bill, was slated to speak at the meeting, but could not attend. In a letter read at the meeting by Gould, Schuring said the state's marijuana policy was bound to have some "glitches that will need legislative editing."
Members of the Ohio Department of Commerce, Ohio Board of Pharmacy and State Medical Board are still in the process of drawing up specific regulations that will apply to those on the business end of the industry: cultivators, processors, testing laboratories and dispensaries. And those regulations could have dire consequences.
"States that have been screwing this up do so because they have screwups for bureaucrats," said John Hudak, a federal marijuana policy expert from the Brookings Institute.
Andy Joseph, the CEO of Apeks Supercritical, an Ohio company that produces machinery to extract cannabis oil from marijuana leaves, has his livelihood riding on those regulations. He is expecting to see an increase in sales for his products and also hopes to get into the marijuana processing industry himself.
"I'm not a politician," he said. "I'm not a deeply rooted regulatory type person, but I'm very interested in how regulations can impact businesses like mine."
Speakers at Wednesday night's event indicated that the Ohio Cannabis Association would serve as a mouthpiece for patients and entrepreneurs while those decisions are being made. Physicians and entrepreneurs can sign up as members of the group with rates ranging from $12.50 to $7,500, then $25 to $15,000 per year. Patients join for free.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Trade Organization To Serve As Voice For Marijuana Entrepreneurs Amid Regulatory Uncertainty
Author: William T. Perkins
Contact: 614-461-5200
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Columbus Dispatch
Those challenges comprised the major theme of the Ohio Cannabis Association's public forum Wednesday night. The group serves as the first marijuana trade association in the state. It has been in the works since 2014, but only truly came into existence in April, said Brian Wright, the group's spokesperson.
About 400 attendees filled the Ohio Union's Great Hall Meeting Room for the event. The meeting featured many of the key players in Ohio's marijuana policy battle within the past year - including Sen. Kenny Yuko, a Democrat from Richmond Heights who helped draft the piece of legislation which became the state's medical marijuana policy. Also speaking was Jimmy Gould, a marijuana investor behind last year's Issue 3 marijuana initiative and a member of this year's Ohio House Medicinal Marijuana Task Force.
"Our work is far from done," Yuko said. "We did not finish on May 25. We just started and with your willingness to help, we're going to keep on fighting."
State Rep. Kirk Schuring, a Republican from Canton who drafted the House version of the bill, was slated to speak at the meeting, but could not attend. In a letter read at the meeting by Gould, Schuring said the state's marijuana policy was bound to have some "glitches that will need legislative editing."
Members of the Ohio Department of Commerce, Ohio Board of Pharmacy and State Medical Board are still in the process of drawing up specific regulations that will apply to those on the business end of the industry: cultivators, processors, testing laboratories and dispensaries. And those regulations could have dire consequences.
"States that have been screwing this up do so because they have screwups for bureaucrats," said John Hudak, a federal marijuana policy expert from the Brookings Institute.
Andy Joseph, the CEO of Apeks Supercritical, an Ohio company that produces machinery to extract cannabis oil from marijuana leaves, has his livelihood riding on those regulations. He is expecting to see an increase in sales for his products and also hopes to get into the marijuana processing industry himself.
"I'm not a politician," he said. "I'm not a deeply rooted regulatory type person, but I'm very interested in how regulations can impact businesses like mine."
Speakers at Wednesday night's event indicated that the Ohio Cannabis Association would serve as a mouthpiece for patients and entrepreneurs while those decisions are being made. Physicians and entrepreneurs can sign up as members of the group with rates ranging from $12.50 to $7,500, then $25 to $15,000 per year. Patients join for free.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Trade Organization To Serve As Voice For Marijuana Entrepreneurs Amid Regulatory Uncertainty
Author: William T. Perkins
Contact: 614-461-5200
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Columbus Dispatch
