One of two festivals planned on the eve of recreational marijuana sales in Ohio has been canceled, part of a dispute between organizers and local officials.
A Pennsylvania-based company, Zick Productions, said its team spent six months preparing to launch the Ohio Cannabis Festival at the Summit County Fairgrounds in Tallmadge. The event was set to run from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, but by June 11 its website had been locked down to a solitary message.As Ross Bjork takes over at Ohio State, Gene Smith looks ahead at his next chapter
“Summit County Agricultural Society has decided to cancel the upcoming Ohio Cannabis Festival contracted to be held Aug. 31 – Sept. 1 in a statement received by mail to organizers,” Zick Productions wrote. “This breach of contract was in accordance with city and county officials’ direction who cited ownership of the land, our commercial speech and state law.”
NBC4 reached out to SCAS, which maintains the fairgrounds, with questions about the cancellation on Thursday. An employee said over the phone that management was working on a response on Friday, but the group had not sent any statement as of Monday.
Tallmadge Mayor Carol Kilway said that while the city doesn’t serve as a legal adviser for the agricultural society or have authority over them, her team was in the loop on the decision SCAS made about the Ohio Cannabis Festival.
“Based on the event’s promotional materials, the city raised concerns regarding how the event would comply with state law,” Kilway said. “The event organizer was invited to address those concerns and did not respond.”Traveling with marijuana: Can you bring cannabis on a cruise?
Jeff Zick, the owner of Zick Productions, gave his perspective to NBC4 on how this exchange played out. He called the city’s actions “governmental pressure” on SCAS and mentioned a “lease issue” with Summit County, the owner of the fairgrounds over the agricultural society.
“The City of Tallmadge invited Summit County and SCAS to a meeting about the scheduled event on June 3 at city hall,” Zick said. “The SCAS cancellation letter was dated June 4.”
An earlier copy of Ohio Cannabis Festival’s website preserved by the Wayback Machine shows promotional materials the city officials may have looked at. On the homepage, the festival showed the three sponsors it racked up were either cannabis dispensaries or marijuana product makers:
- Sauce, a cannabis brand selling vapes, gummies and pre-wrapped smoking products in multiple states
- Paper And Leaf Co., a Kent dispensary claiming no prescription card is needed for orders
- Supergood Cannabis Store, a dispensary chain with one in-state medical location in Ravenna
In a frequently asked questions section further down the page, however, the organizers addressed whether cannabis products would be sold at the event with the response: “Vendors will only be permitted to sell products in accordance with state laws.”
This article appeared on MSN4