Lebanon to prohibit additional medical marijuana operations

LEBANON —Medical marijuana dispensary, cultivation, manufacturing and testing laboratories will be prohibited in Lebanon if the city’s council approves new legislation on Sept. 12.

The new regulation has one exception for the city’s lone medical marijuana dispensary already in operation as a conditional use, said City Manager Scott Brunka.

“This maintains the status quo,” Brunka said.

Council members said they were concerned about the issue last year when a new rule by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy would increase the number of medical marijuana dispensary licenses from one to seven in the district that includes Warren, Clinton and Clermont counties.

The state Board of Pharmacy approved adding 73 more dispensary licenses on April 19, 2021 to the 57 current licenses already created. That would bring the total of licenses that could be issued to 130 after the next application round is completed.

Warren, Clinton and Clermont counties are in one of the 31 dispensary zones in the state. There is one dispensary in the zone which is located in Lebanon, About Wellness Ohio, 1525 Genntown Drive, Suite B. The next closest dispensary would be Strawberry Fields, 300 N. Main St. in Monroe.

Other provisions of the regulations include:

--- No medical marijuana dispensary shall be located within 500 feet of a school, church, public park, public playground or public library, consistent with state of Ohio spacing requirements.

--- The exterior of any medical marijuana dispensary shall be properly screened so that its activities, with exception of any administrative tasks occurring inside the facility, could not be seen by the public within the right of way.

---An application for zoning verification permit shall be made to the CIty of Lebanon and shall include copies of the application for and the provisional license granted by the Ohio Department of Commerce.

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