On the afternoon of June 8, 2016, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed HB 523 into law which will go into effect in 90 days. The General Assembly (House and Senate) are each dominated by the Republican party: House 64R — 34D and Senate 23R — 10D. On May 25th the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 18 to 15 and the House followed suit that evening, passing the bill by 67 to 28.
The Bill left many of the decisions to the regulators such as how many dispensaries, growers, processors, test labs, etc. to license. The Ohio Pharmacy Board, the Ohio Medical Board and the Dept. of Commerce, as well as a 12-member commission created by the law, are responsible for crafting regulations for the prescribing, distributing and tax auditing of the market. The Commerce Department would license growers, processors and labs, while the Board of Pharmacy would license dispensaries at the retail level.
The law calls for the regulations to be in place within one year of the bill taking effect and the sale of medical marijuana must begin no later than two years after the law goes into effect.
The law does prohibit smoking of the product by patients, but it does permit vaping and distribution in edible form. Unfortunately, home growing is prohibited. Even so, this is a huge step forward for Ohioans who can benefit from MMJ. According to Wikipedia, Kasich was very much against legalization of marijuana, even MMJ, just one year ago:
In a 2015 interview with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Kasich said he was opposed to the legalization of recreational drugs in some states and equated marijuana and heroin, stating: "In my state and across this country, if I happened to be president, I would lead a significant campaign down at the grassroots level to stomp these drugs out of our country."
Physicians may prescribe MMJ for 21 conditions including chronic pain, PTSD, cancer and glaucoma.
At least 15% of business licenses must go to minority business owners, unless minority license applicants do not make up that much of the licensing pool. MMJ businesses would not be allowed to operate within 500 feet of a school, church, library, playground or park. Local governments may ban the operation of MMJ operations within their borders.
The regulations must be crafted so small businesses can operate in the regulated market. The license fees will be determined by the boards that were designated to create the regulations.
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