DISPENSARY — The Wintersville location of Sunnyside, a medical marijuana dispensary chain, is among existing medical dispensaries waiting for applications to open for a proposed dual-license program by Ohio’s Division of Cannabis Control. -- Christopher Dacanay

Following a green light from an Ohio legislative committee, applications for existing medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana may start being accepted by early June through a new, proposed program that local dispensaries hope to jump on.

On Monday, the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review completed its review of rules put forth by the Division of Cannabis Control for a prospective program that would grant dual-use licenses — known as 10(B) licenses — to current medical marijuana dispensaries and permit them to sell non-medical marijuana products in addition to their current business.

Composed of five state representatives and five state senators, JCARR is tasked with reviewing new, amended and rescinded rules written by state agencies and ensuring that they fall under the agency’s rule-making authority.

As for the DCC, an arm of the Ohio Department of Commerce that regulates marijuana, its proposed rules for the dual-license program were approved without objection. The rules must be filed with the Ohio Secretary of State before they can take effect and dispensaries can begin submitting applications.

According to Issue 2 — a ballot initiative passed by Ohio voters Nov. 7 that legalized marijuana and allowed adults 21 and older to use, purchase, sell and possess the drug — the DCC must begin accepting applications for the dual-license program no later than June 7. Issue 2 also set Sept. 7 as the final deadline for recreational marijuana sales to begin.

Issue 2, as it was passed, allows a person to possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis flower and 15 grams of concentrates, and home-grow no more than six plants per person or 12 plants per household. Sales would be subject to a 10 percent tax, with revenue funding used for various, purposes, including addiction treatment and a proposed social equity and jobs program.

Monday’s developments are a major step toward actualizing recreational sales after six months of limbo, spurred by unsuccessful efforts from lawmakers to amend Issue 2’s permissions. As debate continued, worries loomed that Ohio residents would turn to elicit means of obtaining marijuana, having the right to use and possess it but not having nowhere in the state to legally purchase it.

The DCC’s rules seem “very promising” to Jason Erkes, chief communications officer for Cresco Labs Inc., the parent company of Sunnyside, a medical marijuana dispensary chain. Cresco Labs cultivates marijuana and manufactures medical products that are distributed at Sunnyside’s locations — the company has five dispensaries in Ohio, including one in Wintersville.

Erkes said it’s a “great sign that there’s interest in getting adult-use sales launched earlier than expected,” based on some projections that sales could begin before Independence Day weekend if all continues to go smoothly.

“We’re excited that they (the DCC) seem to be moving this process as quickly as they are. The priority has been to help curb the elicit market, and I think getting things launched sooner rather than later and the speed that they’re moving things at are steps in the right direction.”

If and when the DCC begins accepting applications, Erkes said, Cresco Labs plans to apply for all of its five Ohio dispensaries as soon as possible.

Erkes said he expects the application process to be “minimal,” due to existing medical marijuana dispensaries having already met the state’s operational guidelines, which can be complex and include security plans, delivery, staffing and camera locations. There may be some novel requirements associated with taking on the new sales, he added, but it’s too early to predict.

Even if all five Sunnyside locations apply at once, there is no guarantee they’ll all become licensed at the same time, so Sunnyside’s rollout of recreational sales will likely be scattered as the state approves applications, Erkes said.

In preparation for that rollout, Sunnyside is making some physical modifications to stores, educating consumers on new expectations and beefing up their own manufacturing to meet expected market demands — Cresco Labs announced Wednesday it planted about 1,000 new indoor seedlings at its Yellow Springs greenhouse.

Also preparing to apply and begin recreational sales is Ohio Valley Natural Relief LLC in Wintersville. Owner and CEO Mike Petrella said OVNR plans to apply for the dual-license program and is waiting for the rules to be finalized.

Come recreational sales, OVNR will move into a larger building next-door to its Canton Road location — which has not yet been constructed — with the current building to be demolished and become a parking area. Since the state could tack on certain building requirements for dual-license dispensaries, Petrella said, OVNR is waiting on finalized rules to put any architectural designs into action.

“There are just a lot of unknowns until they say, ‘OK, these are the final rules,'” Petrella said, adding that the Ohio Legislature could still amend Issue 2, though he believes it’s unlikely.

“I think they’ll keep the statute as passed. The politics side of it, it seems like they can’t come to an agreement on it. At this point, I think they should just stick with what the voters passed.”

When recreational sales begin, the medical program will continue alongside, and medical patients will remain a priority for Sunnyside, Erkes said.

According to Petrella, a major differentiating factor between medical and recreational sales is taxes. Medical marijuana patients are exempt from paying the 10 percent excise tax that recreational consumers will, Petrella said, noting that Jefferson County already has a 7.25 percent sales tax and the 10 percent would stack on top of that.

Also, Petrella said, it remains to be seen whether the state will edit limitations on the tetrahydrocannabinol potency of recreational products. THC is the compound found in marijuana that creates the drug’s psychoactive properties, and Issue 2 set a 35 percent THC limit for plants and 90 percent limit for cannabis concentrates.

For both consumer types at Sunnyside, the products are the same — manufactured in Ohio and sealed for child safety in tamper-evident packaging, like a product a customer would find at a pharmacy, Erkes said. He noted that individuals frequently harbor misconceptions about the marijuana industry, but in reality, it’s a “very professional and regulated industry.”

It is still federally illegally to carry marijuana across state lines, and Erkes and Petrella stated that it is not the dispensary’s responsibility to prevent consumers from crossing state lines with products. Instead, both noted that any such prevention would be the role of local law enforcement.

In other legalized states, Erkes said, there are no restrictions on selling marijuana to individuals from out of state. In fact, he added, out-of-state purchases amount to an average of 30 percent of sales in other legalized states, and he does not know of any states that currently regulate out-of-state purchases.