EASTLAKE, Ohio — Local medical marijuana growers are stuck at a standstill until state lawmakers agree on changes to Issue 2.
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When Issue 2 passed on Oct. 7, the owner of Buckeye Relief, Andy Rayburn, said he knew a long road was still ahead for his business and the entire Ohio marijuana industry.
“We knew in that the most difficult and hard to navigate process would be to see what the legislator did with the bill even though it passed by 57%,” said Rayburn.
Rayburn has carefully planned his next steps for whenever lawmakers let the floodgates open. Despite the lack of a timetable, Rayburn has ramped up production at the Buckeye Relief cultivation and processing facility in Eastlake. His team is producing as much marijuana extract as possible.
“That’s what goes into products like vapes, pens, gummies, and all edibles and it has long shelf life,” Rayburn added. “We are producing more than we are selling, so we can get ahead of that curve.”
Rayburn is also opening his third Amplify medical dispensary in Bedford next Monday. General Manager Sage Graham said the dispensary is large enough for an expanded customer base.
“We have a more open concept to actually help the patients, it’s not too congested because when this goes rec, this place is going to be pretty full I imagine,” said Graham. “So, we made sure to have the space for it and the people to help them out.”
Rayburn said if lawmakers reach a happy medium when it comes to tax revenue and THC percentages, he will be able to expand storefronts, bringing another 200 jobs to the greater Cleveland area. If not, he fears Ohioans will keep buying weed on the illegal market.
“If taxes are too high and THC is too low, people don’t want to buy it, we will barely expand at all,” said Rayburn. “We might have a dozen new jobs.”
Until an agreement is reached at the statehouse, the future remains unknown, and all plans stay paused.
“We’ve already designed a doubling of this building where another 100 jobs would come and we have it ready to go,” Rayburn said. “We have already looked at new dispensary locations in the state and we are nearly ready to go there, but it’s all on hold until we know the timetable and the details.”
