COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a good sign for proponents of the Ohio medical marijuana program, new state numbers show 57% of the people who are on the registry or in the process of getting registered are buying product from state-licensed dispensaries.

State regulators said last week there were 53,082 patients being registered -- which involves going to a program-participating doctor for a recommendation for marijuana -- or have completed the registration -- which involves paying the state a registration fee and activating the marijuana e-card. And 30,284 people who had purchased from dispensaries.

Of the 53,082:

3,432 were military veterans, who qualify for a fee reduction.

2,042 were low-income, who can qualify for a fee reduction.

271 had a terminal diagnosis.

There have been $18 million in plant and other product sales since the dispensaries opened in mid-January to Aug. 4. That includes 2,144 pounds of plant material and 47,865 units of manufactured product, such as a bottle of THC oil.

In other marijuana news:

The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a federal appellate court covering a region that includes Ohio, ruled last week that the rights of two Ohioans who proposed decriminalization ballot issues in the Portage County communities of Windham and Garrettsville were not violated, Jeff D. Gorman writes for Courthouse News Service

Harvest Health and Recreation, a medical marijuana company, is in trouble with regulators in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In Ohio, the company is under investigation for whether its cultivation license is truly held by an African American woman. The company received its license in part because the woman identified as the majority owner represented an economically disadvantaged group. Jeff Smith of Marijuana Business Daily discusses how other marijuana businesses can learn from Harvest’s woes.

Marijuana news is an occasional feature about cannabis in and around Ohio.