Today is another red-letter date for Ohio. The Ohio Department of Development’s Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) has issued 98 Certificates of Operation (COOs) to dispensaries across the state, allowing them to sell adult-use marijuana at their existing medical marijuana locations (i.e., a “dual-use” license). The issued COOs represent nearly 75% of the provisional licenses previously issued. The remaining provisional licenses will not be issued until those licensees have met the requirements for receiving a COO.

All the locations of dispensaries that have received their COOs can be found on the DCC’s website, which the DCC will update as it issues additional COOs. As the DCC has noted, although COOs have been issued to these dispensaries, not all will be open for adult-use sales today. Opening dates will be determined by each licensee.

What’s Next?

Readers may recall from our prior articles that, in addition to accepting applications for dual-use licenses on June 7, DCC also began accepting applications for “10(B)” licenses. Under the 10(B) program, Level I medical marijuana cultivators, Level II medical marijuana cultivators, and medical marijuana dispensaries not having any common ownership or control with any cultivator or processor, and who had their medical Certificate of Operation or a provisional license as of December 7, 2023, were eligible to apply for those licenses. Upon issuance of a 10(B) Certificate of Operation, those licensees will be permitted to operate at locations other than their current medical or dual-use location. Because those locations will, for the most part, be ground-up sites (i.e., they will need to be built out and then inspected by the DCC), COOs for those locations will not be issued as quickly as for dual-use licenses, and in some instances, may require some legal finesse. As with COOs issued for dual-use licenses, DCC’s dispensary map will be updated as 10(B) COOs are issued.

Congratulations Ohio!