An Ohio board that oversees attorney conduct said Thursday that attorneys aren't allowed to help someone establish a legal medical marijuana-related business in the state because using, growing and selling marijuana remains a federal crime.

The state Supreme Court's Board of Professional Conduct also said Ohio attorneys aren't legally permitted to use medical marijuana or to be personally involved in related businesses. Attorneys sought the opinion to determine whether a law barring employers from disciplining professionals from working with marijuana businesses applies to lawyers

Ohio is looking to hire an expert who knows the ins and outs of growing marijuana and the medical marijuana business.

The drug will be legal as of next month in Ohio, although it will take up to two years for full implementation.

In preparation, the Ohio Department of Commerce, one of three agencies tasked with its regulation, wants to hire a contractor for a Medical Marijuana Industry Analysis and Regulatory Framework to suss out the best marijuana cultivation techniques, which includes analyzing supply and demand and setting standards for businesses that will operate in Ohio.

After Ohio became the 26th state to legalize medical marijuana, plans to implement the new law have caused state officials to become concerned about the financial hurdles that lie ahead.

State officials have proposed a “closed-loop” payment processing system that is similar to pre-paid debit or gift cards.

The system would require that MMJ patients and registered caregivers put money into special accounts, using checks, credit cards or cash at state-licensed liquor stores,  or a state agency.

Legalized medical marijuana is coming soon to Ohio, and Marijuana Business Daily is bringing its “crash course” here to inform potential entrepreneurs.

“We chose Ohio because of the potential for the industry,” said Editorial Director Chris Walsh.

Half of the U.S. has legalized marijuana in some form, and the Ohio legislature followed suit this year in response to a ballot push from national advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project. (You can read who donated to the group's Ohio-based campaign here.)

As the opioid epidemic continues to plague the Ohio Valley with addiction and death, the search for safer methods of pain management has become increasingly urgent.

Advocates for medical marijuana have recently made inroads in the area with growing scientific evidence that the substance currently considered of no medical value by the federal government might be a tool to wean those suffering from chronic pain off of more dangerous drugs.

Ohio could be the first medical marijuana state to fix the industry's cash-only situation.

Half the states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana but the federal government still considers it among the most dangerous drugs. Banks, credit unions and credit card companies are reluctant to provide services to legal marijuana businesses because of uncertainty from federal regulators, leaving most businesses to operate as cash-only.

Ohio's new medical marijuana law proposes a new way around the bank problem. The law allows state officials to set up a "closed loop" payment processing system, similar to prepaid debit and gift cards.

New Ohio laws hit the books in September, legalizing medical marijuana - a drug Northside’s Nicole Scholten believes will help her daughter Lucy and thousands of sick and suffering patients across the state.

But just how soon patients like Lucy might be able to get the drug in Ohio is still a big unknown.

“Thank goodness the law has been passed, but good luck finding a doctor who will recommend it,” said Scholten, whose daughter Lucy has cerebral palsy and more than 150 epileptic seizures a day. “If you can’t find a doctor, it may as well be illegal.”

While Ohio's medical marijuana law goes into effect Sept. 8, it doesn't require the system to be fully operational until September 2018.

With medical marijuana slated to become legal in Ohio on Sept. 8, potential cannabis entrepreneurs are faced with two major challenges: growing an entire pot industry from the ground up, and avoiding being choked out by state bureaucrats.

Those challenges comprised the major theme of the Ohio Cannabis Association's public forum Wednesday night. The group serves as the first marijuana trade association in the state. It has been in the works since 2014, but only truly came into existence in April, said Brian Wright, the group's spokesperson.

Strapped into the pilot’s seat of his private jet, Scotts Miracle-Gro CEO Jim Hagedorn thrusts the throttle forward and hurtles down the runway, a typical start to the day for the former F-16 fighter pilot, who commutes 500 miles from his home on Long Island, N.Y. to his office outside Columbus, Ohio. For an hour and a half every morning and every afternoon, Hagedorn sits behind the control stick of his plane, pushes the seat back and lets his mind run wild.

His latest idea: “Invest, like, half a billion in the pot business,” he yells over the roar of two engines powering his camouflaged Cessna Citation. “It is the biggest thing I’ve ever seen in lawn and garden.”

Ohioans looking for medical marijuana this fall may not be able to get the drug as soon as it becomes legal in September.

Doctors in the state will be able to give patients written certification that they can use marijuana in certain forms starting in September.  However, actually finding the drug through legal channels will be a challenge.

State Sen. Kenny Yuko has been working for more than a decade to legalize medical marijuana and says the state needs to get moving soon on the rules for who can get the drug, and where.