TIFFIN, Ohio — The next medicinal marijuana dispensary in Ohio has opened its doors in Tiffin.
Seneca County officials say the business, which held a ribbon cutting Tuesday, will provide a boost to the local economy.
Inside the former Family Video on Market Street in Tiffin, Thrive Wellness has officially celebrated its entry into the community.
Operated by MariMed Inc., Thrive is the newest medicinal marijuana dispensary in Ohio.
"This is another medical (marijuana) state that we are proud to be entering, where we can go in and get the patients proper medicine without having to drive into a back alley and risk their lives," Jon Levine, MariMed CEO, said.
For Seneca County officials, this new business means medicinal card carriers no longer have to leave the area to visit medical marijuana dispensaries in Fremont or Bowling Green.
Tiffin is expected to become a destination for medical card carriers who live south or east of town as well.
"It's more than just losing the revenue and the tax revenue from this specific business. It's additional lost revenue when those folks leave our community," said Aaron Montz, president and CEO of Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership. "Whether it's weekly, monthly, et cetera; it's just a loss of business for a lot of folks."
Along with supplying Seneca County residents with the product they need, the staff at Thrive Wellness is also making education on medical marijuana a top priority.
"The more people are able to learn about cannabis and what it does and how it can heal you, the less stigma there is around it," Thrive Wellness Tiffin general manager Liv LeMaster said. "Because there are so many components and moving parts to the cannabis plant, there's a lot more to it than people recognize a lot of the time."
"We try to go to where the patients are to bring them the ease of being able to get their medicines," Levine said. "Or if they're a customer and adult use, it gives them the ease of getting in and out without having to drive to a big city or drive all the way up to Michigan."
The State of Ohio has still not entirely finalized Thrive Wellness' dispensary license but the owners here are hopeful that now that the building is completely occupancy ready, that could happen any day now.
Until then, Thrive employees can work with customers to pre-register for their services.