COLUMBUS, Ohio – After months of waiting and speculation, state regulators have decided who will grow medical marijuana in Ohio.

The Ohio Department of Commerce on Thursday announced 12 winners of “level I” cultivation licenses for up to 25,000 square feet of growing space.

The businesses awarded the licenses are:

• Buckeye Relief LLC in Eastlake (179.28 points)
• Grow Ohio Pharmaceuticals LLC in Newton Township (173.44 points)
• OPC Cultivation LLC in Huron (173.28 points)
• Riviera Creek Holdings LLC in Youngstown (172.72 points)
• Pure Ohio Wellness LLC in Springfield (167.64 points)
• Columbia Care OH LLC in Mt. Orab (167.08 points)
• Terradiol Ohio LLC in Canton (165.48 points)
• Standard Wellness Company LLC in Gibsonburg (161.28 points)
• AT-CPC of Ohio LLC in Akron (161.28 points)
• Cresco Labs Ohio LLC in Yellow Springs (159.80 points)
• Parma Wellness Center LLC in Parma (153.08 points)
• Harvest Grows LLC in Hamilton Township or Cleveland (142.04 points)

The businesses have nine months to fully comply with state law and regulations and receive a certificate of operation after a state inspection.

Eleven companies were chosen two weeks ago for level II licenses for up to 3,000 square feet. The Department of Commerce announced a 12th licensee on Thursday, Farkas Farms LLC in Grafton.

The late November award date means businesses will have to move quickly to set up shop, in some cases building multimillion-dollar facilities, in order to produce a first crop in time for the program’s anticipated September 2018 start date. [Read more at Cleveland.com]