Ohio Issues First Adult-Use Cannabis Certificates Green Lighting Adult-Use Marketplace
COLUMBUS – Ohio’s adult-use cannabis market is officially up and running—well, at least for four cultivators and six processors. The state’s Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) issued the first batch of dual-use certificates of operation to these businesses on July 19, providing them the green light to start supplying the state’s commercial adult-use marketplace.
Another 31 cultivators, 36 processors, seven testing laboratories and 133 dispensaries in the provisional licensing queue remain next in line for certificates. Before issuing final licensure, the DCC must determine whether these businesses meet final requirements—from security/surveillance systems to employee badging to point-of-sale systems.
While it will take a little longer for the Buckeye State to start firing on all cylinders across the supply chain, the first batch of certificates issued Friday marks a crucial step toward the program becoming fully functional. The DCC has clarified that it intends to convert cultivators, processors and testing labs to dual-use licensure—to operate in both the medical and adult-use programs—before dispensaries.
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The first batch of dual-use certificates included Youngstown, Ohio-based Riviera Creek Holdings, which began operating in the state’s medical market in January 2019.
Riviera Creek’s 75,000-square-foot cultivation and processing facility has nearly 20,000 square feet of canopy. Approximately 5,000 square feet of that canopy was added on after Ohio voters approved the state’s adult-use initiative in November, CEO Daniel Kessler told Cannabis Business Times.
“We have approximately 5,000 [square feet] more currently under construction, which will be operational during 2024,” he said. “We have additional expansion plans for 2025 and 2026 to fill the remainder of the building. We have added about 20 full-time positions since the initiative passed. That trend will continue as the additional capacity is added.”
The company received notification this week that the DCC approved its application for a dual-use certificate of operation to enter the adult-use market.
“Riviera Creek is thrilled to earn a dual-use license and looks forward to providing its top-tier products to adults across the state of Ohio,” Kessler said.
The DCC also approved dual-use certificates of operation for Pure Ohio Wellness, which operates a 53,000-square-foot cultivation and processing facility in Springfield, just outside of Dayton. The facility includes 25,000 square feet of canopy.
The company, which has operated in Ohio’s medical market since November 2018, also has licensed dispensaries in Dayton and London.
“It means a lot to us,” Pure Ohio Wellness Chief Operating Officer Tracey McMillin told CBT about being among Ohio’s first cultivators and processors to receive dual-use licensure. “We have been ready for a few months to start providing our products to the medical and recreational customers in Ohio, and this brings us one step closer.”
In anticipation of the adult-use marketplace, Pure Ohio Wellness increased its flower production by building out its current flower, vegetative and mother rooms with vertical grow racks, McMillin said, doubling the company’s production capacity.
“We have been approved for a total of 100,000 square feet of canopy and are currently in the pre-construction phase of the first step of our expansion plan, which is a 30,000-square-foot facility that will house nine more flower rooms with fertigation, another propagation area as well as a new packaging and quality control area, shipping and some storage space,” she said. “This will allow us to utilize some of the packaging space in our current facility to allow for growth in our processing lab as well as more than double our flower production.”
Following is a list of the 10 cultivators and processors included in the DCC’s first dual-use certificates of operation batch:
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