Benzinga | Oct 12, 2021 09:54AM EDT

Ohio's Upcoming Cannabis Legalization Lobby Day Attracts Diverse Organizations

The Ohio Cannabis Lobby Day 2021, taking place on October 13 is meant to educate legislators and the general public about the need for medical marijuana patients rights as well as to legalize and regulate legal weed.

The event, taking place at Ohio's State House Atrium, will be hosted by Ohio Cannabis Live, a news and dispensary review organization with the assistance of Representative Juanita Brent of Cleveland and the Ohio Appalachian chapter of NORML.

In a recent press conference, Rep. Brent addressed the lack of diversity, equity and inclusion in the process of opening new dispensaries.

Brent highlighted that "of the 114 dispensary owners in Ohio, only 9 are people of color" and that when it comes to license ownership, the lottery system was not enough to deal realistically with racial disparities.

Earlier this year, in July, Reps. Terrence Upchurch and Casey Weinstein began circulating a draft memo to their colleagues to garner support prior to formally file a bill that would legalize adult-use cannabis, marking the first time a proposal allowing recreational cannabis commerce is introduced in the state legislature.

"The number of people who have been negatively affected by cannabis arrests in Ohio is astronomical. I've seen firsthand how the lives of good people have been upended for years because of pot convictions," Upchurch said.

As it stands, 22 jurisdictions across Ohio have adopted local statutes to decriminalize

cannabis possession.

Now, activists have succeeded in collecting enough signatures to qualify cannabis proposals for the November ballot.

New Licenses Are Important

Several small-scale growers, capped at 3,000 square feet of grow space, have been requesting an expansion, arguing that they were consistently selling out of product.

On September 15th, the Ohio Department of Commerce announced that Ohio's medical marijuana cultivators who have complied with rules and regulations could start requesting permission to expand their grow space.

Public Cannabis Companies Already Providing Weed To Ohio Dispensaries

Jushi Holdings Inc. (OTC:JUSHF) recently acquired Franklin Bioscience OH, LLC, a licensed medical cannabis processor in Ohio, and in July purchased OhiGrow, LLC.

Also in July, Verano Holdings Corp. (OTC:VRNOF) bought its fifth dispensary in Ohio.

Cresco Labs (NYSE:CL) (OTC:CRLBF), which has the broadest type of cultivation license in the state (25,000 square feet), a complete processing facility, and the maximum number of retail stores, supplies cannabis flowers and products to 88% of dispensaries in Ohio.

Photo by Add Weed On Unsplash