The first medical marijuana retail shop in Ohio could open any day now, but it probably won't be close to home for most Cincinnati-area residents.

Cresco Labs' CY+ dispensary in Wintersville, Ohio - about 240 miles northeast of Cincinnati - is so far the only one of 56 licensed medical marijuana retail outlets in the state to undergo final inspection for a certificate of operation.

Ohio Board of Pharmacy officials, who regulate the dispensaries, said they visited the store just before Thanksgiving, and their compliance division is wrapping up its review of inspection results.

Officials at Cresco, which is also licensed to grow marijuana in Ohio, said they’re prepared to open as soon as they receive notification from the state. CY+ store shelves are already stocked with sample packages.

Still, most patients will have to wait until closer to the end of the year or early next year to buy medical marijuana – and quantities will be limited.

Ohio's Medical Marijuana Control Program was supposed to be fully operational by Sept. 8, but the program has been beset by licensing issues and construction delays that have prevented licensed growers from bringing their products to market.

The situation has been a major disappointment for patients, but it has given the dispensary operators more time to build out their stores.

Cincinnati-area dispensaries

Locally, Green Rx – which holds a provisional license for the only dispensary inside Cincinnati's city limits – is eyeing an early 2019 opening, according to Rev. Damon Lynch III of New Prospect Baptist Church in Roselawn.

Lynch is among a group of investors backing the Green Rx dispensary, which will do business as "Have A Heart Cincy.''

"We don't have a hard, set (opening) date yet, but we're getting close. We're probably looking at January or February,'' Lynch said. "We want to be one of the first in the area to open for business.''

The 7,000-square-foot dispensary at 8420 Vine St. in Hartwell is one of seven in the local area in various stages of readiness.

Tejal Desai of Therapeutic Healing Care II LLC, which holds a license for a dispensary at 1525 Glenntown Dr., Suite B, in Lebanon, said construction was just getting started there.

"Hopefully, we’ll be ready to go by mid-February or the end of February,'' Desai said.

Columbia Township will host two dispensaries: one at 5445 Ridge Road licensed to Pharmacann Ohio LLC, and another location at 5149 Kennedy Ave. licensed to Care Med Associates LLC.

Neither of those companies could immediately be reached for comment.

Debbie's Dispensary Ohio 4 LLC has a license for a location at 1088 N. High St. in Hillsboro that is expected to open by the end of April.

Closer to Cincinnati, 127 OH LLC has a license to operate a dispensary in the Village of Seven Mile in Butler County. The dispensary, doing business as Bloom Medicinals, is also expected to open next spring, according to company officials.

Cannascend Alternative LLC – a company started by Cincinnati investor James Gould, who was behind a failed 2015 campaign to fully legalize marijuana in Ohio – also has a dispensary license for a location at 300 North Main St. in Monroe.

Waiting on testing labs

But none of the dispensaries can begin selling medical marijuana until their products have been tested for quality and potency.

And, so far, none of the five private and university testing labs that have been granted provisional medical marijuana licenses in Ohio have been given the green light to start testing.

Although, two of the testing labs – North Coast Testing Laboratories and Hocking Technical College – have informed state regulators that they'll be ready for final inspection in the next week or two, according to a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Commerce, which oversees the growers and testing labs.

In the meantime, the pharmacy board has knocked down one of the biggest hurdles to buying medical marijuana in Ohio by activating its online patient registry last week.

Doctors certified to recommend cannabis will register patients and caregivers, who will then receive an emailed link to finish the registration process, pay the annual $50 fee and receive a digital patient ID card to buy medical marijuana at dispensaries.

No one other than employees or those making medical marijuana deliveries can enter a dispensary without an ID, which can be printed or downloaded to cell phones and other smart devices.

But even after Cresco and other dispensaries open, state regulators are cautioning consumers to curb their expectations.

A limited amount of medical marijuana has been harvested by a few of the more than two dozen growers licensed in the state. Supply is likely to be limited and initially relegated to flower.

Patients will have to wait for oils, edibles and pills and other products approved to treat 21 qualifying medical conditions under the state's 2016 medical marijuana law.

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