Analysis by Kyle A. Lohmeier
So, we have another update on Ohio’s law to have the state make as much money as possible off of the highly-restricted sale of marijuana to patients who have to have their prescription for it renewed every ninety days – provided they can find a doctor willing to put up with the scrutiny and hassle of prescribing it in the first place.
For those who’d like a blow-by-blow account of the absurdity surrounding the creation of Ohio’s medical marijuana law – the very worst such law ever written – simply go back to my main page and scroll all the way to the very first entry, and then look for more posts with the same picture of Governor John Kasich blazing a joint for updates.
In short, Ohio’s law is the most restrictive “medical marijuana” law ever written and every aspect of it has nothing to do with helping any individual Ohioan treat an illness, but rather to help the state make as much money as possible on legal sales of cannabis products while still keeping the plant mostly illegal – it cannot even be legally smoked by patients it will theoretically be eventually prescribed to. Previous sets of rules erred very heavily on restricting the cultivation of the plant as heavily as possible – limiting grow sites to just a handful and further limiting the size of grow sites to areas smaller than the infield of a regulation baseball diamond for “large” sites, and areas smaller than a basketball court for “small” sites. Somehow, these tiny grow sites were going to produce enough product to stock the 40 dispensaries the law allowed for state-wide.
Well, apparently enough people pointed out the state’s utter imbecility because on Thursday, newly-revised rules were announced by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy – just one of many bureaucracies that will have to sign off on the law. The Pharmacy board decided to allow another 20 dispensaries, 60 in all, and then prohibited home delivery, since there would be 60 dispensaries scattered across the state to choose from. Also, the biennial fee to operate a dispensary was reduced to $70,000 from $80,000 – praise be for the crown’s generosity!
These changes to dispensary rules follow other changes announced late last year that went unreported here because of their triviality. Those changes included doubling the number of “small” grow sites from six to 12, though there will still only be 12 “large” grow sites. The sizes allowed for those sites were also expanded slightly. “Large” sites grew to 25,000 square feet from 15,000 and the postage stamp “small” sites are now 3,000 square feet instead of 1,600. For reference, a “large” grow site is just over half the square footage of an NFL football field, minus end-zones. “Small” grow sites are still smaller than a regulation basketball court. The rule changes also allow for a one-time “build out” of sites that would allow them to double in size.
To be allowed to operate a marijuana growing operation legally, you have to be able to demonstrate to the state that you’re not some regular peasant, but a person of wealth and means. For that reason, the license fee to operate a “large” site is $180,000 plus a $20,000 application fee. “Small” operations are a relative bargain at $18,000 for the license plus a $2,000 application fee.
The final revised rules for cultivators now have one more bureaucratic hurdle to cross, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
“The cultivator rules now face the final regulatory step, oversight by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review. The legislative panel technically does not approve rules submitted by state agencies, typically allowing them to take effect without action. However, JCARR occasionally delays or rejects rules,” the Dispatch reported.
That still leaves rules for physicians, marijuana processors (since it cannot be smoked, it will have to be processed into edibles or something that can be vaporized), testing facilities (whatever the hell those are), patients and caregivers to be finalized, and a deadline of September of this year has been imposed. Somehow, medical marijuana is expected to be available in Ohio by September of 2018.
Again, the real purpose of the law is to allow Ohio to make as much money as possible. That’s why it is as restrictive as it is; the state knows very, very few people will even bother with it at all and will continue procuring and using cannabis as they always have – thus giving the state the opportunity to make piles of money arresting them and stealing all their property as “asset forfeiture.”
To their credit, Ohio’s government has figured out a way to have their cake and eat it too when it comes to marijuana. As always, the law serves only the government and oppresses the individual.
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