Ohio recently signed a $1 million deal with a New Jersey company to start a toll-free helpline for medical cannabis patients, caregivers, and physicians.

The company, Cannabis Expertise, is a subsidiary of Direct Success Inc., which has operated a national cannabis helpline for almost a year. Extra Step Assurance’s call center is located in Bellefontaine in central Ohio.

Direct Success CEO Cheryl McDaniel says the hotline will give people information about medical cannabis so they can talk with doctors and decide whether it is right for them. She said the center offers fact-based information and does not give any medical or legal advice.

The call center will also have pharmacists on call 24/7 to answer questions about the plant.

“Our job is not to convince people if medical cannabis is appropriate for them. Our job is to give them the information so they can talk with their physicians. They have to decide what’s right for them,” McDaniel told Cleveland.com.

Ohio is set to start medical cannabis prescriptions in September, and requires by law the state Board of Pharmacy to establish a cannabis helpline.

The help line must be staffed from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, per the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy contract. McDaniel expects the help line could expand to answer questions via text message, social media, an app and online chat, which would cost an additional $89,500 over three years.

The million dollar contact covers a three-year period for Ohio’s Direct Success Inc.

McDaniel says the center will soon expand from three to four or five employees in the new few months.