OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 9 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 261’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Sens. S. Huffman and Schuring
Effective Date:
Nick Thomas, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
 Creates the Division of Marijuana Control (DMC) within the Department of Commerce
for the purpose of overseeing Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Program.
 Transfers the portions of the Medical Marijuana Program currently overseen by the
Board of Pharmacy to DMC, including registration of patients and the licensure and
oversight of dispensaries.
 Establishes the Medical Marijuana Oversight Commission to develop and oversee DMC.
 Expands the types of medical conditions that are eligible for treatment with medical
marijuana.
 Requires DMC to implement a merit-based system for reviewing applications.
 Requires DMC to endeavor to achieve a ratio of at least one licensed retail dispensary
per 1,000 registered patients up to the first 300,000 registered patients and then adding
additional retail dispensaries on an as-needed basis.
 Requires, within 90 days of the bill’s effective date, DMC to issue dispensary licenses to
all cultivators that meet the relevant requirements.
 Prohibits a new retail dispensary from being opened within one mile of an already
existing dispensary.
 Allows licensed dispensaries to advertise, on social media or otherwise, without
receiving prior approval from DMC.
 Allows licensed dispensaries to display products on advertisements and within the
dispensary.
 Requires DMC to establish a new cultivator license for stand-alone processors.
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 Creates two levels of cultivator licenses, with level I cultivating up to 50,000 square feet
and level II cultivating up to 15,000 square feet.
 Enables cultivators to request an expansion of their cultivated area, with level I being
able to cultivate up to 100,000 square feet and level II up to 20,000 square feet.
 Authorizes a level II cultivation license holder to receive a processor license.
 Allows marijuana products that fail laboratory testing or that falls outside of typical
testing results to be retested.
 Allows tested samples to be sold.
 Expands the permissible forms of medical marijuana that may be dispensed to include
pills, capsules and suppositories, oral pouches, oral strips, oral or topical sprays, salves,
lotions, or similar items, and inhalers.
 Increases the permissible tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of extracts, from not
more than 70% to 90%.
 Enables physicians to recommend medical marijuana via telemedicine.
 Requires that the medical director of a dispensary be certified to recommend medical
marijuana and authorizes the medical director to do so.
 Replaces interstate reciprocity agreements with a foreign patient database.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Transition provisions ................................................................................................................... 3
Medical Marijuana Oversight Commission ..................................................................................... 4
Expansion of qualifying condition ................................................................................................... 5
Adoption of rules ............................................................................................................................ 7
Dispensary to patient ratio.......................................................................................................... 8
Merit-based system..................................................................................................................... 8
Change of ownership................................................................................................................... 8
Cultivator license for stand-alone processors ............................................................................. 9
Change of ownership................................................................................................................... 9
Licenses ......................................................................................................................................... 10
Cultivator licenses ..................................................................................................................... 10
Retail dispensary licenses .......................................................................................................... 12
Processor license ....................................................................................................................... 12
Laboratory license ..................................................................................................................... 12
Permissible forms and methods ................................................................................................... 13
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Petitioning for additional methods of consumption ................................................................. 14
Dosage of medical marijuana .................................................................................................... 14
Inspections without notice ........................................................................................................... 14
Equity study .................................................................................................................................. 15
Physician medical marijuana certification and the State Medical Board ..................................... 15
Health plan issuer claims .............................................................................................................. 15
Sheriff investigation ...................................................................................................................... 16
Closed-loop payment system .................................................................................................... 16
Foreign patient database .............................................................................................................. 16
Records checks for employees...................................................................................................... 17
Definitions ..................................................................................................................................... 17
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Overview
The bill creates a new Division of Marijuana Control (DMC) within the Department of
Commerce. The purpose of DMC is to oversee and administer Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control
Program. As such, the majority of responsibilities the State Board of Pharmacy currently has
with regard to the medical marijuana program are transferred to DMC. These transferred
responsibilities include: patient and caregiver registration, approval and oversight of retail
dispensary licensees, oversight of licensee taxation, criminal records checks for license
applicants and employees, investigations of violations of the Medical Marijuana Law, and
maintenance of a toll-free telephone line for responding to inquiries related to the Medical
Marijuana Program. It also changes references in the Revised Code as necessary to
accommodate these changes.1
Transition provisions
Not later than 60 days after the bill’s effective date, the Department of Commerce and
the State Board of Pharmacy must transfer regulation of the Medical Marijuana Control
Program to DMC. Until the transfer is complete, the Board retains regulatory authority over
licensing of retail dispensaries, registering patients and caregivers, and related duties.2
Upon the completion of the transfer, the Medical Marijuana Control Program in the
State Board of Pharmacy is abolished. All of its records, as well of all of its other assets and
liabilities relating to the Medical Marijuana Control Program, must be transferred to DMC. DMC
1R.C. 3796.02, 3796.03, 3796.032, 3796.04, repealed, 3796.05, 3796.06, 3796.061, 3796.08, 3796.10,
3796.11, 3796.12, 3796.13, 3796.14, 3796.15, 3796.16, 3796.17, 3796.22, 3796.23, 3796.27, 3796.30,
and 4776.01.
2 R.C. 3796.08(A)(1).
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is successor to, and assumes the obligations of, the Medical Marijuana Control Program in the
State Board of Pharmacy. Any business commenced, but not completed by the Board on the
date of the completion of the transfer must be completed by DMC in the same manner, and
with the same effect, as if completed by the State Board of Pharmacy. No validation, cure, right,
privilege, remedy, obligation, or liability is lost or impaired by reason of the transfer.
Furthermore, DMC is responsible for adopting rules establishing standards and
procedures for the Medical Marijuana Control Program. The rules regulating the Medical
Marijuana Control Program in existence on the bill’s effective date continue in effect until
repealed or amended by DMC. However, not later than 90 days after the bill’s effective date,
DMC must review and propose revisions to the rules related to medical marijuana retail
dispensaries.
A license to operate as a retail dispensary, as well as a patient registration, issued by the
Board remain in effect for the remainder of the license’s or registration’s term, unless earlier
suspended or revoked. However, the bill authorizes DMC to suspend, suspend without prior
hearing, revoke, or refuse to renew a license issued by the Board.3 Until the transfer is
complete, the Board will issue renewals; thereafter DMC will issue them.
Any form of medical marijuana approved by the State Board of Pharmacy remains
approved until revoked by DMC, after giving notice to the petitioner for that alternate form.
DMC must post notice of that revocation on its website.4
Medical Marijuana Oversight Commission
The bill establishes the Medical Marijuana Oversight Commission as an independent
body within DMC to develop and oversee DMC regarding any policies, procedures, regulations,
and licensing related to the Medical Marijuana Control Program and the implementation and
enforcement of the Medical Marijuana Law. The Commission is required to administer the
program and may take any action necessary to implement and enforce that law. The
13-member commission is to consist of the following:
 A member who is a practicing pharmacist who supports the use of marijuana for
medical purposes, appointed by the Governor;
 A member who is a practicing physician who supports the use of marijuana for medical
purposes, appointed by the Governor;
 A member who represents local law enforcement, appointed by the Senate President;
 A member who represents employers, appointed by the Governor;
 A member who represents labor, appointed by the House Minority Leader;
3 R.C. 3796.14(A)(1)(a).
4 Section 4 of the bill.
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 A member who represents an organization involved in the treatment of alcohol and
drug addiction, appointed by the Senate Minority Leader;
 A member who is a nurse, appointed by the Governor;
 A member who represents caregivers, appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives;
 A member who represents patients, appointed by the Governor;
 Two members who represent entities licensed under the Medical Marijuana Law,
appointed by the Senate President;
 A member who represents the general public, appointed by the Governor;
 A member who engages in academic endocannabinoid research, appointed by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Appointments to the Commission are to be made not later than 30 days after the bill’s
effective date, and the Governor is required to select a member of the Commission to serve as
its chairperson. The Commission is required to hold its initial meeting not later than 30 days
after the last member of the Commission is appointed.
Each member of the Commission is to serve from the date of appointment until the
member dies, resigns, or is removed by the appointing authority. Vacancies are to be filled in
the same manner as original appointments. In connection with Commission meetings and
business, each member is to receive a per diem rate of $150 and the member’s necessary travel
expenses.
The bill specifies that the Commission is not subject to sunset provisions, but that
Commission members are required to comply with Ethics Laws that apply to other state office
holders.5
Expansion of qualifying condition
The bill expands the types of medical conditions that would qualify for treatment with
marijuana. Under current law, all of the following are qualifying medical conditions:
 Acquired immune deficiency syndrome;
 Alzheimer’s disease;
 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis;
 Cancer;
 Chronic traumatic encephalopathy;
 Crohn’s disease;
5 R.C. 3796.021, with conforming changes in R.C. 102.02.
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 Epilepsy or another seizure disorder;
 Fibromyalgia;
 Glaucoma;
 Hepatitis C;
 Inflammatory bowel disease;
 Multiple sclerosis;
 Pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable.
 Parkinson’s disease;
 Positive status for HIV;
 Post-traumatic stress disorder;
 Sickle cell anemia;
 Spinal cord disease or injury;
 Tourette’s syndrome;
 Traumatic brain injury;
 Ulcerative colitis;
 Any other disease or condition added by the State Medical Board.
In February 2021, the State Medical Board added arthritis, chronic migraines, and
complex region pain syndrome. In addition, the Medical Marijuana Control Program website
includes as qualifying conditions cachexia, Huntington’s disease, spasticity, and terminal illness.
The bill adds the following conditions:
 Arthritis;
 Migraines;
 Autism spectrum disorder;
 Spasticity or chronic muscle spasms;
 Hospice care or terminal illness;
 Opioid use disorder.
The bill also allows physicians to recommend marijuana for treatment for any condition
the physician is qualified to treat and that the physician considers, in the physician’s sole
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discretion and medical opinion, to be as debilitating to the patient as any of the conditions
listed above.6
Adoption of rules
The bill requires DMC to adopt rules establishing standards and procedures for the
Medical Marijuana Control Program. As part of the transfer of responsibilities from the State
Board of Pharmacy, the Board’s duty to adopt rules is transferred to DMC.
The bill tweaks or adds to the transferred rules as follows:
 The rules must prohibit a new retail dispensary from being opened within one mile of
an already existing dispensary;
 The rules must prohibit any person from owning more than five retail dispensaries in
Ohio or more than 5% of the total number of retail dispensaries in Ohio, whichever is
greater;
 The rules must prohibit any person from owning more than five retail dispensaries in
any of the following four geographic regions − northwest, northeast, southwest,
southeast;
 The bill continues the requirement to adopt rules that specify reasons for which