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The Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee met on Thursday, December 14, 2017. The Ohio Department of Commerce addressed the media concerns of one vendor being a convicted felon and another vendor having a conflict of interest. Commerce stated the scoring process took steps to make sure no one person had an ability to affect the outcome. Commerce stated bias was either negated or at least diluted, because the vendors were one of only three in a scoring group.

Commerce added that all applicants who were not awarded a provisional license will be given the opportunity to have a hearing in the matter. In addition- but not as a substitute for a hearing- an independent 3^rd party will be appointed to review complaints applicants have about the way their applications were handled.

There was no discussion about a recent lawsuit that was filed, challenging the law requiring fifteen percent of all cultivator, processor, or laboratory licenses be awarded to entities that are owned and controlled by United States citizens who are residents of this state and members of certain economically disadvantaged groups.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy acknowledged that there were computer issues on November 17, 2017, for medical marijuana dispensary applicants. As a result, up to 72 application may not have been accepted. The application process will be reopened December 18 and 19, for applications to be completed by all applicants. Anyone who does not receive a dispensary license will also have the opportunity to have a hearing.

If you have concerns about your medical marijuana application, or the denial of a medical marijuana license, you should talk with an attorney at Graff & McGovern. John Izzo can be reached at johnizzo@grafflaw.com or 614-228-5800, extension 5.