Three Licenses to Sell Recreational Marijuana Issued in Zanesville

Back in November, recreational marijuana was passed by voters and licenses to sell are going out now, leaving many to wonder if Zanesville will see a dispensary anytime soon.

According to Zanesville Mayor Don Mason, three potential locations have received licenses from the state and await approval from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.

“I’ve only seen preliminary specs on each of these. Again, these are going to be operated under purview of the authority of the state of Ohio. I expect them to be well managed. The tax payers of Zanesville should recognize around $239,000 in terms of income and sales tax dedicated squarely to the city on this and I expect the county to get another $90,000 a year in revenue, with the state of Ohio getting somewhere around $280,000,” Mason said.

The state of Ohio already plans to utilize a portion of the revenue for drug rehabilitation programs, Mason hopes that Zanesville will do the same with theirs. Recreational licenses started rolling out Tuesday, and Mason believes these early days serve as a trail period.

“I expect the city of Zanesville to be closely watching how the various dispensaries and retail establishments operate within the area in expectation that the state of Ohio has adopted rules and regs, but they might be always looking to refine, change rules and regs in the future. And so we would be in the position of giving them our best advice,” Mason said.

No definitive dates have been given for when the dispensaries will be open for business. Two locations , 1800 Maysville Pike and 1135 Lee Street, still require construction and the third will move into 1658 Maple Avenue.