The first legal recreational marijuana sales in the Greater Cincinnati area — about a 90-minute drive from Louisville — could be just weeks away.
Courtney Pavlak is the regional operations manager for local medical marijuana company UpLift, which has two locations in Milford and Mount Orab.
“Since November it’s been a lot of just hurry up and wait,” she told me. “I think for the public it's probably a little frustrating right now.”
Shortly after Ohio voters approved a measure to legalize recreational marijuana use, many people assumed they could pull up to a local medical marijuana dispensary like UpLift and buy their weed.
But it's not that simple.
Pavlak said the company has been very diligent in keeping current patients and UpLift's future customer base educated on the ever-changing timeline, and she’s confident that the wait is almost over.
How licensing of marijuana will work in Ohio
Currently, the state wants existing medical dispensaries to operate under dual licenses. They will likely be the first types of dispensaries to go live with recreational sales. Both of UpLift's current locations currently have their provisional licenses from the Ohio Commerce Department’s Division of Cannabis Control to be able to sell medical and recreational pot. The final step is to go through the certificate of operation process.
“The closest indication for us at a dispensary level to know that this is close to going live is going to be when we see the cultivators start to get those certificates of operation because to us when we see that we're next,” Pavlak said.
The dispensaries will be last to get the green light. The way things are set up in Ohio right now is essentially in a three-tiered process.
“We have testing laboratories, we’ve got cultivation and processing and then we have the dispensaries,” she said. “Every category has to have a certificate of operation to be able to sell. Logically, if the testing laboratory does not have a certificate of operation, they can't test the products that the cultivation and processing are putting out.”
Even though the official estimated launch date keeps getting pushed back, Pavlak told me she's confident UpLift will be able to start selling recreational marijuana in early August.
“I was comfortable saying mid-July. Now, I will say that it will be a very pleasant surprise if we can do it (by then),” she said.
A lot of changes have taken place since voters opted to legalize recreational use late last year, which is why it has taken so many months to get to this point. From cultivators ramping up production to meet the influx of demand, to regulatory policies being implemented, it is not an easy process, despite Ohio being the 24th state to legalize weed.
“They’re writing laws and regulations and redacting things … and adding new stipulations and trying to get this new program up and running,”Pavlak said. “It just takes time.”
Medical marijuana dispensaries have also recently changed who they report to for regulation. According to Pavlak, it used to be the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy and now it is the Ohio Department of Commerce.
“It’s become better now and … it seems more streamlined,” she said.
How much medical weed sales brought to Ohio
Medicinal marijuana sales brought in $484 million in 2023, according to figures from the Ohio Department of Commerce. The state has more than 175,000 patients with an active cannabis card.
UpLift, which is primarily family and locally owned, is planning to double in size soon. A spokesperson for the organization said they are planning on building two new facilities, however exact locations haven’t been decided. The plan is to build from the ground up. There are no regulations on whether dispensary operators can own or rent a space, but for UpLift, it works out better to start from scratch when designing the next facility.
According to UpLift, Ohio is one of the most regulated states for recreational use in the country, which makes it difficult to expand quickly. There is a lot of red tape. For example, the most state-wide dispensaries a company can have under current law is eight. There are also strict rules on advertising. Companies can’t email blast people, have billboards or run commercials. A lot of marketing has to be grass roots and word-of-mouth. There are also employment regulations that need to be factored into the business plan.
“There are requirements from the state of how much security (personnel) we have to have,” Jeremy Young, the general manager of UpLift Milford, told me.
Opening a dispensary requires a significant capital investment. UpLift would not disclose the cost. According to cannabis consulting business Green Rush Consulting, a minimum budget of $250,000 is advised for potential Ohio operators.
There is currently no regulation on the product pricing in Ohio.
“The state does not get involved in actual business operations,” Pavlak said. “The pricing is set based on what we buy it for.”
UpLift opened its first location in Mount Orab in January 2023. The Milford location opened a short time later in April of that year.
The company prides itself on professionalism and education, referring to all customers as “patients.”
“We do believe that cannabis is medicine and some may not qualify for a medical card … and we’re not judging that,” Pavlak said.
Serving cannabis to Kentucky and Indiana customers
She is excited for the ability to also serve the people of Kentucky and Indiana (recreational marijuana is illegal in both states, and Indiana has not approved legalization of medical marijuana either), who don’t currently have easy access to dispensaries. According to UpLift, it's much safer to purchase marijuana from a dispensary rather than just buying it from a friend or from a dealer on the street.
“The fact that everything is tested diligently … you know exactly what’s in every product that’s consumed,” Young said. “That makes me feel very confident in what we’re selling.”
Many Ohio consumers of marijuana are already actively traveling out of state to purchase from dispensaries anyway, so once recreational use is finally fully up and running, it will bring back a lot of money into the state’s economy.
For example,Bridge Michigan reports Ohio residents play a significant role in Michigan's $3.2 billion recreational marijuana industry, which is currently No. 1 in the country.
While the legalization of recreational cannabis is a relatively recent trend, especially in the United States, consumption of marijuana dates nearly 12,000 years, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Marijuana is still considered a schedule 1 controlled substance and remains federally illegal in the United States.
What's the latest on medical marijuana in Kentucky?
In the spring, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear gave an update on the state of medical marijuana sales in the commonwealth, which was approved last year by the General Assembly.
At that time, The Kentucky Medical Cannabis Program filed new regulations, which will serve as guidelines for businesses to apply to become licensed medical marijuana businesses in the state. Under the new guidelines, there is a licensing structure for cannabis businesses, an application process, review and process time and application and licensing fees.
Businesses will now be able to apply for a cannabis business license through Aug. 31 this year. Patients who qualify for medical marijuana cards will be able to apply for one on Jan. 1, 2025.
Late last year, Ohio became another Kentucky neighbor to approve recreational medical marijuana sales, joining Illinois, Missouri and Virginia.
Currently, the closest retailer to Louisville selling recreational marijuana is in Grayville, Illinois, just across the Indiana/Illinois border off Interstate 64.
