Cleveland — Fifty-six.
That's the number of licensed medical marijuana dispensaries that now have the green light from the state of Ohio.
18 licenses went to future facilities proposed right here in Northeast Ohio.
Entrepreneur Bobby George got five of them.
George, owner of TownHall and Barley House, knows how to run a business or two.
Now George says it looks like his Green Thumb Industries, or GTI Ohio LLC may be the largest retailer of medical marijuana in the state.
One green lighted option for a GTI Ohio dispensary is for the area listed at “approximately 18607-18609” Detroit in Lakewood, just on the Rocky River border.
It’s also at the top of the street where Ann and Larry Seidel have lived for 27 years.
In a home on Gridley Road on their amazingly well manicured little corner of the world in Lakewood.
"We just like growing things,” Larry says standing over the flower bed he shaped into a heart for Ann.
The new potential dispensary will be selling medical marijuana grown elsewhere.
George’s partnership is with Green Thumb Industries based in Chicago.
GTI Ohio LLC received the maximum of five dispensary licenses.
Two in Lakewood, besides the one on Detroit, the other is for 11818 Madison Avenue.
One license in Cleveland (1222-1224 Prospect Ave. East.), one in Lorain (1920 Cooper Foster Park Rd.) and one in Toledo.
"Compare this to the end of prohibition for alcohol. Now we're at the end of prohibition for marijuana. It’s very exciting," George said, seated at his popular TownHall restaurant in Ohio City.
Add to that five more what George calls, “yellow light dispensaries”. These he says are technically not “awarded”, but George and his attorney say they can choose from those for his total of five allowed.
"Actually we won so many licenses that we may have to give some back," George says, of what would be 10 options from the state for GTI Ohio facilities.
"I believe I'll be the largest retailer of medical marijuana in the state of Ohio," George told Channel 3 News.
Larry Seidel, for one, is fine with that.
"I don't have a problem first of all with people who have medical problems and that can help. I'm all for that," Seidel said.
"I would say they're going to be pleasantly surprised at what a well-run business it is and very profitable. Actually the people who won big, (us) are from Northeast Ohio."
"It’s nice to see a group of people from Northeast Ohio benefit because we have people from all over the county applying. That’s a big deal," George said but stopped short when asked if he can comprehend just how lucrative five medical marijuana dispensaries could be.
“Well I can comprehend. As a business owner, you always put together a forecast, but we don't know the profit yet because we don't know the patient number right now. We can only estimate it and I don’t want to share it right now,” George says and smiles.
These dispensaries will sell marijuana for vaping, oil, patches and edibles but it still won't be legal to smoke marijuana or grow it at home.