The Botanist was the first dispensary to open in Summit County, Ohio. It opened on November 8, 2019. A brand of Greenleaf Apothecaries LLC, the Botanist is a chain of dispensaries now owned by Acreage Holdings, a large multi-state dispensary owner. Acreage is a public company with 35 dispensaries in 12 states. Former speaker-of-the-house John Boehner is a board member.
Greenleaf Apothecaries was one of the first dispensaries approved by the state of Ohio in 2019. Greenleaf was founded by CEO David Neundorfer and CFO Oscar Hackett. They were joined by COO Kate Nelson.
The company quickly came under fire and was fined $300,000 in October 2019 when it was revealed they had attempted to sell the company too early. The state of Ohio requires dispensaries to operate for 12 months before transferring ownership. This issued delayed the opening of their Akron, Cleveland and Columbus locations. The issue was eventually resolved with Greenleaf having to repay $3 million in loans to Acreage.
