Judges won’t let lawsuits stand in way of Ohio’s medical marijuana program

An Ohio judge is attempting to keep the state's medical marijuana program deadline on track as he pushed aside a lawsuit from one would-be marijuana cultivating company claiming that the license application review process was biased. While the company's main concern was to be licensed and open for the beginning of the state's program, their case has not been thrown out entirely, only ruled that they should receive an administrative hearing with the State Commerce Department in the next two weeks. Several other lawsuits from would-be cultivators received worse fates as they were dismissed for not having gone through the proper appeal process. The judge wanted to make sure the state's regulating continues moving forward while also giving the appealing cultivating company a fighting chance to get into the industry.

Perhaps the most closely watched case involved a lawsuit by Ohio Releaf to stop the licensing process of large cultivators.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard Frye ruled that Ohio Releaf, one of 97 unsuccessful applicants in the large-grow category, should receive an administrative hearing with the State Commerce Department within 15 days, but he denied a request for a preliminary injunction.