ABC 36 tours Ohio cannabis company potentially eyeing Kentucky market

DAYTON, Ohio (ABC36 NEWS NOW) – One of the largest publicly traded cannabis companies in the U.S., Cresco Labs, LLC, is expanding its footprint in Ohio, just across the state line from Kentucky, where medical marijuana was recently legalized.

ABC36 had the opportunity to tour Cresco’s 50,000-square-foot cultivation and processing facility near Dayton, which is part of a growing industry that could eventually become a reality in the Bluegrass State.

The recreational use of marijuana is legal in 24 states including Ohio.

With Kentucky approving medical marijuana effective this year many are wondering what the ‘future’ of cannabis in the Bluegrass could look like.

“The regulations in Kentucky and the regulations in Ohio are very similar. If we picked up this facility and moved it across State lines, probably 90% of the compliance measures would be in place and be appropriate for Kentucky,” said Jason Erkes, spokesperson with Cresco Labs LLC.

He adds, “everything is about regulations and compliance here, from the second you get to the gate outside, to getting inside, to the way the plants are grown and tagged and, manufactured with a child safety seal and lab tested. That’s what compliant, regulated, focused cannabis is all about.”

From the minute you step foot inside Cresco Labs in Yellow Springs, Ohio, you must wear protective gear.
Every room requires a badge for entry and all the plants are carefully monitored.
From the beginning, “this is our clone room where the life cycle of each plant begins, and what we do in here is we take cuttings off of these mother plants and transfer them up to these racks in smaller 1 inch cubes,” said facility director, Joseph Chek.

The plants are then kept in a vegetative state, those working with the plants then regulate the amount of light they are exposed to.

“We decide for the plants what time of day it is, what season of the year it is, how much water they get, how much hydration they get. So we can dictate how fast they grow and how they bud and everything about the health of the plant,” added Erkes.

Cresco Labs LLC sits on 50,000 square feet for cultivation and processing.

“This facility has about 10,000 plants, ranging in size and maturity date, which supplies both the adult use and the medical market here in Ohio,” says Jason Erkes.

The product is kept in Ohio due to regulations, “the way regulated cannabis works is state by state. So there’s four walls around every state that we operate in, as there will be in Kentucky, where the product has to be grown, manufactured, tested, distributed, and consumed within the four walls of those state, per federal law.”

The facility is harvesting about 180,000 dry grams of cannabis every week.

“And that plant then goes through the supply chain, we decide whether it’s going to be flour, whether it’s going to be extracted, made into a vape, or made into an edible. And then of course it’s packaged and shipped to a dispensary,” said Erkes.

So how does that impact the Bluegrass?
With Governor Andy Beshear signing medical marijuana into law in the Bluegrass, Cresco Labs does not shy away from what could come in the future.

“We’re very interested in Kentucky as the compliance and regulatory structure is very similar to the other states that we operate in.
But we’re still evaluating opportunities and haven’t made any public announcements yet,” added Erkes.

The recreational use of marijuana is still illegal in the state of Kentucky.