AKRON, Ohio – Good news for Akronites who want to grow marijuana under Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program.
Akron City Council on Monday unanimously approved legislation regulating the cultivation, processing and sale of medical marijuana in Akron. And while the city requires residents to have conditional and provisional use permits in order to grow, they don’t need to have them in hand when applying to the state.
Instead, Akron residents can apply to the state with a signature of a local authorized zoning authority indicating their facility would comply with zoning laws and regulations. The process of obtaining that signature remains unclear.
Akron’s new law lifts the city’s moratorium, which would have held medical marijuana licenses, building permits, certificates of occupancy, conditional use permits and other authorizations until September.
The state will begin accepting applications in June for review in July, and through a competitive process will award 24 licenses: 12 licenses for up to 25,000 square feet of growing space, and 12 licenses for up to 3,000 square feet.
Once state licenses are awarded, cultivators then have nine months to comply with the program requirements.
Akron’s new law allows police to inspect any medical marijuana facility and vehicles at any time, and imposes city fees. In keeping with Ohio law, it prohibits medical marijuana facilities within 500 feet of a church, school, park, library or residential area.
Ohio’s law, passed last June, allows certified physicians to recommend certain patients buy and use marijuana if they have any of 21 qualifying medical conditions, including AIDS, Crohn’s disease, hepatitis C, sickle cell anemia and traumatic brain injury.
The law prohibits marijuana use through smoking or combustion, or any form that is attractive to children. The law approves of oils, tinctures, plant material, edibles and patches.
In Ohio, medical marijuana must be available for licensed patients by September 2018.
credit:cleveland.com
