Customers wait outside of the Ohio Cannabis Co. on North County Road 25A in Piqua to on Tuesday, which was the first-day non-medical cannabis was available to be purchased by the public in Ohio.
Kathleen Leese | AIM Media Midwest
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control recently issued its first set of dual-use Certificates of Operation to 98 eligible dispensaries across the state, which allowed them to sell publicly for the first time on Tuesday.
This comes more than a month in advance of the Sept. 7 deadline as outlined in the initiated statute passed by Ohio voters in last November, which allowed for marijuana to be sold to the public.
There are no dispensaries in Shelby County. The closest dispensaries who received COOs and are allowed to sell to the public are the Ohio Cannabis Co. on North County Road 25A in Piqua and Verilife Dispensary on Dixie Highway in Wapakoneta.
Once an entity has received its COO, it is legally authorized to begin the sale of non-medical cannabis in addition to medical cannabis. However, the issuance of COOs does not necessarily mean non-medical sales will begin immediately at every dispensary, as each licensee must determine when they will start sales based on factors including staffing, stock and other business considerations.
