More states are approving medicinal cannabis and laws allowing recreational use are also spreading. In our area, Ohio is the only state to have medical marijuana on the books. Legislation is pending in Kentucky and Indiana. Ohio has discussed legalizing recreational use, but a statewide vote is not expected until 2023. Cresco Labs is one of a few businesses already cashing in on the medical side with a major cultivation site right in our backyard in Yellow Springs. Cresco Labs currently operates legal grow operations in nine states along with numerous dispensaries.Stepping inside their facility, it was more like a jungle fit for the Amazon than the fields of Yellow Springs. Hundreds of cannabis plants of all types, strands and variants growing tall under the bright fluorescent lights.All of it to supply more than 250,000 Ohioans — following doctors’ orders and dispensaries in other states.“The medical program in Ohio was getting started and I just really wanted to dive in and see what I could do to help provide medicine for patients in Ohio,” facility director of cultivation Rachel Fay said. Cresco Labs has one of 37 medical marijuana control program cultivation licenses in Ohio. They can grow up to 25,000 square feet, just as a starting point. Fay says from start to finish they believe in near surgical cleanliness. “I think a lot of people have preconceived notions about it, but then they come into a place like this. It looks a lot like a farm. You know, like he said, we look very medical right now. It’s a different pharmaceutical what we’re doing here,” Fay said. Hundreds of plants are carefully grown and transferred. Each plant is also given a precise amount of light for months. They are then clipped at full bloom, sent to labs to extract the THC oils and eventually into the kitchens.“It’s not something that you’re just getting off the street. It’s something that’s produced in a kitchen. There’s formulation to it and then it goes out for testing, so you know exactly what is in it,” kitchen production manager Michael Mount said.Mount moved from the dairy industry into cannabis. Now he oversees the kitchen at the Yellow Springs facility where they do all the mixing, pouring, and packaging. While cultivation labs across Ohio are growing the green, these businesses and the state are making it.In the first six months of the Medical Marijuana Control Program, Jan. 16, 2019 – July 15, 2019, sales topped $14.5 million dollars. In the last six months alone — Nov. 15, 2021 to May 16, 2022 — that number has exploded 16 times over to nearly $228 million. The three-year total is $837 million.And the innovations at Cresco keep on coming as they look ahead for potential legalization in Ohio and new legislation in other states.“We’ve heard our customers we know they want chocolates. We know they want sweet tart tablets, and we know that they want different gummies that will hit on different formulation specifications that they’re looking for,” VP of product development Stephanie Gorecki said. Gorecki, a scientist herself, says they take a high level of care not only to make these taste good, but also to have the desired effect to ease whatever is ailing medicinal users.“This is a very highly scientific field all the way from cultivation, extraction, to edibles formulation,” Gorecki said. What was once considered reefer madness is now a possible sea of hope.“I think the message is just that, cannabis is really helping a lot of people in the state right now. It’s a really exciting thing to be a part of,” Fay said. Here’s how the numbers break down for Ohio:As of March 31, 2022:261,453 – registered patients (historical)16,882 – patients with veteran status1053 – patients with a terminal diagnosisAs of 5/16/2022″96,965 pounds of plant material8,778,407 units of manufactured productA total of 240 physicians in Ohio are currently allowed to recommend medical marijuana. Thirty-six of them are across Butler, Warren, Clinton and Hamilton counties.

More states are approving medicinal cannabis and laws allowing recreational use are also spreading.

In our area, Ohio is the only state to have medical marijuana on the books. Legislation is pending in Kentucky and Indiana. Ohio has discussed legalizing recreational use, but a statewide vote is not expected until 2023.

Cresco Labs is one of a few businesses already cashing in on the medical side with a major cultivation site right in our backyard in Yellow Springs. Cresco Labs currently operates legal grow operations in nine states along with numerous dispensaries.

Stepping inside their facility, it was more like a jungle fit for the Amazon than the fields of Yellow Springs. Hundreds of cannabis plants of all types, strands and variants growing tall under the bright fluorescent lights.

All of it to supply more than 250,000 Ohioans — following doctors’ orders and dispensaries in other states.

“The medical program in Ohio was getting started and I just really wanted to dive in and see what I could do to help provide medicine for patients in Ohio,” facility director of cultivation Rachel Fay said.

Cresco Labs has one of 37 medical marijuana control program cultivation licenses in Ohio. They can grow up to 25,000 square feet, just as a starting point.

Fay says from start to finish they believe in near surgical cleanliness.

“I think a lot of people have preconceived notions about it, but then they come into a place like this. It looks a lot like a farm. You know, like he said, we look very medical right now. It’s a different pharmaceutical what we’re doing here,” Fay said.

Hundreds of plants are carefully grown and transferred. Each plant is also given a precise amount of light for months. They are then clipped at full bloom, sent to labs to extract the THC oils and eventually into the kitchens.

“It’s not something that you’re just getting off the street. It’s something that’s produced in a kitchen. There’s formulation to it and then it goes out for testing, so you know exactly what is in it,” kitchen production manager Michael Mount said.

Mount moved from the dairy industry into cannabis. Now he oversees the kitchen at the Yellow Springs facility where they do all the mixing, pouring, and packaging.

While cultivation labs across Ohio are growing the green, these businesses and the state are making it.

In the first six months of the Medical Marijuana Control Program, Jan. 16, 2019 – July 15, 2019, sales topped $14.5 million dollars. In the last six months alone — Nov. 15, 2021 to May 16, 2022 — that number has exploded 16 times over to nearly $228 million. The three-year total is $837 million.

And the innovations at Cresco keep on coming as they look ahead for potential legalization in Ohio and new legislation in other states.

“We’ve heard our customers we know they want chocolates. We know they want sweet tart tablets, and we know that they want different gummies that will hit on different formulation specifications that they’re looking for,” VP of product development Stephanie Gorecki said.

Gorecki, a scientist herself, says they take a high level of care not only to make these taste good, but also to have the desired effect to ease whatever is ailing medicinal users.

“This is a very highly scientific field all the way from cultivation, extraction, to edibles formulation,” Gorecki said.

What was once considered reefer madness is now a possible sea of hope.

“I think the message is just that, cannabis is really helping a lot of people in the state right now. It’s a really exciting thing to be a part of,” Fay said.

Here’s how the numbers break down for Ohio:

As of March 31, 2022:

261,453 – registered patients (historical)

16,882 – patients with veteran status

1053 – patients with a terminal diagnosis

As of 5/16/2022″

96,965 pounds of plant material

8,778,407 units of manufactured product

A total of 240 physicians in Ohio are currently allowed to recommend medical marijuana. Thirty-six of them are across Butler, Warren, Clinton and Hamilton counties.



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