COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Latest on marijuana in Ohio (all times local):

3 p.m.

Ohio says medical marijuana won’t be available for sale by the Sept. 8 deadline.

Department of Commerce policy adviser Mark Hamlin said Tuesday that several cultivators have experienced inspection delays that make it impossible to have product on the shelves on the date set by Ohio’s 2016 medical marijuana law.

Hamlin said the state worked aggressively to meet the deadline and is disappointed on behalf of patients at the delay. He says the state is not technically out of compliance with the law. He said it called for having the program itself in place by Sept. 8.

Hamlin couldn’t say exactly when sales will begin, other than as soon as possible.

Ohio has licensed 25 large and small growers and on Monday awarded 56 dispensary licenses.

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11:09 a.m.

A key backer of recreational marijuana legalization in Ohio says he and his business partners are pursuing commercial, legislative and ballot strategies to continue expanding access to safe cannabis and related products.

Ian James, founder and president of Green Light Acquisitions LLC, ran the unsuccessful ballot campaign to legalize both recreational and medical marijuana in 2015. Ohio has since legalized medical marijuana.

James said Tuesday that his business has developed a line of therapeutic lotions, soaps and sprays using cannabidiol that he’s marketing to large national retailers, including Urban Outfitters and Sephora.

He’s also pursuing another constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for personal use that would likely appear on the 2020 ballot, while pushing bills to purge criminal records of former marijuana offenders and to open Ohio to legal hemp cultivation.

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