Tomorrow May 11th in Columbus, a judge will have 69 lawsuits against the Department of Commerce & the Ohio Marijuana Cultivation Licensing process in front of them to determine if there was fraud, insider trading or other back-alley dealings that happened within Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Program, HB 523.
What a sad day it is that almost 2 years to the date of actual legalization in Ohio, we are literally about to have our program shut down – let alone have access and products for patients that are in need. Millions of dollars have been spent on both sides of the fence and no one knows where the chips are going to lay. David Yost, the Ohio State Auditor said it’s basically too big to fail at this point – but is it? Many people don’t think it is and that the walls are about to come tumbling down.
We’ve heard rumor after rumor of corruption and people getting licenses that shouldn’t have and even indictments coming down the tube at the federal level. It’s a scary time in Ohio for patients, business owners and those who may have broken the law to obtain one of those coveted Ohio Cultivation Licenses.
I’ve also heard a rumor that they are supposed to release the Dispensary licenses tomorrow too, so we’ll see how that pans out. Undoubtedly that round of licensing will bring another 100 or so lawsuits to the table for this terribly broken program.