News & Events

Brendon Friesen Secures Ohio Medical Marijuana Cultivation License on Appeal

Brendon Friesen, Mansour Gavin LPA shareholder and Business and Corporate Services Group chair, recently secured a major victory for his client, Cielo Jardin LLC of Euclid, OH.

In December 2017, the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program (MMCP) denied Cielo Jardin one of 24 coveted provisional licenses to legally cultivate medical marijuana in Ohio. Despite Cielo Jardin scoring in the top ten among hundreds of applicants in the highly competitive merit-based application process, the MMCP disqualified the company on what it perceived as a legal technicality. Mr. Friesen represented Cielo Jardin throughout the appeal process, both at the administrative level and in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. On February 7, 2020, Judge Hollie L. Gallagher found that the MMCP should have awarded Cielo Jardin the provisional license and ordered the MMCP to reconsider.

On March 31, 2020, the MMCP issued the provisional license to Cielo Jardin. Mr. Friesen is one of just a handful of attorneys to successfully obtain a MMCP provisional license on appeal. Cielo Jardin will work through the build-out process in the coming months and is extremely excited to be part of the MMCP as a Level II cultivator.

As of March 31, 2020, there are twenty operational medical marijuana cultivation facilities in Ohio, none of which are in Cuyahoga County. Since the program’s first sales began in January 2019, Ohioans have purchased over $60 Million in both processed and plant material marijuana products. Mansour Gavin LPA proudly represents Cielo Jardin and other companies in the fast-growing legal cannabis market in Ohio and in other states.

If you have any questions on how we can assist your business, please contact one of our Business and Corporate Services attorneys.