A Hillsboro location in the 1000 block of North High Street is one of 56 medical marijuana dispensaries that gained provisional state approval Monday.
Debbie’s Dispensary Ohio 4, LLC, located at 1088 N. High St., Hillsboro won approval Monday. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy awarded the provisional dispensary licenses for when medical marijuana becomes legal this fall, and stores have six months to meet operation requirements.
As reported last November by The Times-Gazette, two license applications from companies seeking to locate medical marijuana dispensaries in Highland County were among nearly 400 received from across the state.
Companies calling themselves “Debbie’s Dispensary Ohio 4” and “Ohio Biotherapy LLC” were the only two applications received seeking to locate a dispensary in the district that includes Highland, Brown and Adams counties. No applications were filed seeking to locate dispensaries in Brown or Adams.
In regard to dispensary licenses, Highland County is part of what has been designated District 6 in the Southwest region of the state, grouped with Adams and Brown counties. One dispensary license was set aside for the three-country district.
The 1088 North High Street address is located in a shopping center area. It appears to be owned by a Cincinnati investment company and is currently occupied by a Dollar Tree store. The store manager said Monday he knew nothing about it and was not authorized to speak to the media. Other neighboring storefronts in the same shopping center are empty, and whether the address was incorrectly listed was unknown.
According to a company website, Debbie’s Dispensary is an Arizona business. The CEO is Curtis DeVine, and the company is named after his sister, Debbie, according to the site. A person who answered a call placed Monday to the company promised to have someone call back.
The website quotes DeVine as saying of his sister, “Debbie is my rock. I’ve worked with her for the last 15 years on all my businesses. And she’s a medical marijuana advocate. It was a natural fit. Her compassion for our patients is what’s got us where we are today.”
Companies do not have to be based where they seek to dispense medical marijuana. In fact, five separate articles of incorporation were filed on Oct. 18 by “Debbie’s Dispensary” for various locations around Ohio. No single company is allowed to own more than five dispensaries in the state.
The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy awarded the 56 medical marijuana provisional dispensary licenses after an extensive review of 376 submitted dispensary applications.
In Southwest Ohio, those eligible to be awarded are:
• Care Med Associates LLC, Cincinnati.
• Green Rx LLC, Cincinnati.
• PharmaCann Ohio, LLC, Columbia Twp. (Hamilton County).
• 127 OH LLC, Seven Mile (Butler County).
• Cannascend Alternative LLC, Monroe (Butler County).
• Pure Ohio Wellness LLC, Dayton.
• Cannascend Alternative LLC, Dayton.
• Schottenstein Aphria III LLC, Riverside (Montgomery County).
• Therapeutic Healing Care II LLC, Lebanon (Warren County).
• Debbie’s Dispensary Ohio 4 LLC, Hillsboro.
• Harvest of Ohio LLC, Beavercreek (Greene County).
• Pure Ohio Wellness LLC, Springfield.
• Cannamed Therapeutics, Springfield.
A complete list can be found at the medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov website.
