Medicinal cannabis farms could produce recreational weed too

Added on 25 August 2023

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Medicinal cannabis farms could produce recreational weed too

Thousands of marijuana plants grow in a highly controlled environment from seed to harvest at a cultivation facility in Buckeye Lake.

PharmaCann, Inc., a Level I medical marijuana cultivation facility, harvests 36 times a year in Licking County.

“Everything’s controlled,” PharmaCann Manager of Cultivation Tommy Black said. “Everything from the light, the light’s intensity to the humidity (and) temperature … to make sure the plants have the right environment.”

Ohio cultivation facilities like PharmaCann could potentially be harvesting marijuana for recreational use if a proposed November ballot initiative passes. Existing medical marijuana cultivators and dispensaries would have the ability to obtain an adult-use license if voters approve the ballot, said Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol spokesperson Tom Haren. They are backing the ballot initiative.

“The process is not automatic,” he said. “There is an application process.”

The initiative would legalize and regulate cultivation, manufacturing, testing and the sale of marijuana to Ohioans 21 and up. It would also legalize home grow for Ohioans 21 and up with a limit of six plants per person and 12 plants per residence, and impose a 10-percent tax at the point of sale for each transaction.

If that happens, PharmaCann is ready.

“We understand how the regulated market works,” said Brandon Nemec, PharmaCann’s government and regulatory affairs director. “We work very well with a very fair, very stringent, very strict, very fair regulator here in the state of Ohio. So if there is the opportunity to transition down the line, we’ll be ready for it.”

The Ohio Ballot Board will consider the language voters will see on the November ballot during Thursday’s meeting.

PharmaCann

PharmaCann opened their Buckeye Lake cultivation site in 2019 and grows about 1,500 plants in three different flower rooms — the final destination for the plants to grow until they are fully mature and ready to be harvested.

“When the plants are happy, it’ll do what it’s supposed to do,” Black said. “It’ll grow good, healthy, quality buds, where, like, if plants are stressed out, they’ll want to act up.”