Brunswick, Ohio – The first thing you notice is the smell: almost chemical but sweet and light.
The scent hangs in the air while a machine the size of a modest RV hums loudly, hundreds of feet of laminate traveling through it. The laminate will be coated with a botanical oil – responsible for the smell – baked and transferred to an adhesive layer of foam before it is cut into smaller and smaller pieces on other machines.
Sextant Development makes 3 million adhesive transdermal patches a week in its Brunswick facility. The patches contain vitamins and herbal supplements.
Compounds from marijuana could be next.
People with about 20 medical conditions will be able to use and buy marijuana if recommended by an Ohio-licensed physician under a law signed by Gov. John Kasich in June. The new law takes effect next week, but it could be two years or more before marijuana patches roll off the Sextant conveyor belt and into stores.
The Ohio Department of Commerce will spend up to the next year writing the rules and regulations for marijuana product processors – companies that will extract active compounds from marijuana plants into oils or use the oil to make tinctures, edible products or patches.
Applications for processor licenses won’t be available until after the rules are written, but Sextant and other Ohio businesses are trying to get in front of the rules by working with regulators in the coming months.
Sextant worked with a Colorado company to refine its patch method there and has some advice for Ohio’s medical marijuana program:
- Set reasonable capital and cash requirements for license holders. Setting the minimum required capital too high will kill the industry before it starts.
- Make patient registration easy and conflict free for physicians.
- Provide education for physicians so they feel more comfortable recommending marijuana.
How patches work
Patches contain a smaller dose of marijuana than patients would take orally. The dose is gradually absorbed by the skin into the bloodstream.
The patches might be more expensive than other methods. But Sextant executive Joe Bennett said they would be attractive to patients looking for a steady stream of marijuana compounds over a long period of time. And patches can be discreetly worn under clothing.
The law doesn’t allow patients to smoke marijuana, which Bennett said should make it more palatable for doctors to recommend.
“Recommending someone smoke or vape marijuana – it doesn’t give the image of a controlled therapy,” Bennett said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Brunswick Company Wants To Make Medical Marijuana Patches
Author: Jackie Borchardt
Contact: Cleveland
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Cleveland
