AKRON, Ohio — Marijuana growers in Ohio say they're facing a serious problem right now, hurting their profits. Is there too much weed being grown in Ohio?
Industry experts say the short answer is yes. However, it's a delicate balance between supply and demand until Ohio gets the green light to legalize recreational marijuana.
Locally grown in Akron, Klutch Cannabis's cultivation center is pushing products fast. The plants in a single room produce 200 pounds of weed every two months. Since Ohio's medical marijuana program started, growers have been tripling their weed output. And while production is the highest it's ever been, there's been a halt in patient demand. A spokesperson with Ohio Medical Cannabis Industry Association told News 5 the number of medical marijuana patients in Ohio has plateaued, leaving many Ohio cultivators with a surplus of a product set to expire.
Pete Nischt, VP of Compliance and Communications at Klutch Cannabis, said it's constantly monitoring the market to make sure not to overproduce.
"We do this daily, for hours a day, just trying to figure out how best to meet the market so that we don't have shortages and we are not really dealing with issues where we've got too much down in the vault we can't sell," said Nischt.
Under Ohio regulations, medical marijuana products, once packaged, only have a year to sell until the product is deemed "expired" and must be appropriately destroyed. Companies could lose thousands of dollars.
There are over 11 million people in Ohio, and only around 170,000 people have medical marijuana licenses.
Theresa Daniello, medical marijuana patient advocate and president of the TDCann Institute, said the lack of advertising by the state of Ohio and the location of dispensaries has left medical patients uninterested in Ohio's program.
"We have pockets of the state that have no access to medical cannabis," said Daniello. "They have to drive an hour two hours to get at it. We need to look at where there are no patient numbers and potentially put dispensaries there."
In just three weeks, Klutch Cannabis's second retail location will be opening in Canton. Their first location opened in Lorain back in January.
"We are growing a lot and packaging as much as we can," said Lauren Delande, Director of Retail Operations at Klutch Cannabis. "They are working nonstop over there to supply the patients of Ohio with great medicine."
Despite the troubles their competitors are facing, Klutch Cannabis is pushing forward full steam ahead.
"Ultimately, it came down to a position where we think we can make this happen, and we are going to make it happen," said Nischt.
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You can watch more about the first drive-thru dispensary in the player below:
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