Ohio Cannabis Sales In First Week Exceeding Expectations Despite High Prices

COLUMBUS – Recreational cannabis sales in Ohio have been legal for a week and business is booming. Sales in Ohio are rivaling some of the top cannabis markets in the country. It’s also attracting customers from nearby states, where recreational marijuana isn’t legal. But prices remain high in comparison to Michigan.

“We’re seeing numbers at dispensaries that rival numbers in established markets like Illinois, that have been up and running for years,” Jason Erkes of Cresco Labs said. “We’re seeing that in the first week in Ohio.”

Cresco Labs owns Sunnyside Dispensary in Cincinnati. Erkes said the demand has been high from Ohioans and out-of-staters.

“We’re seeing a lot of out-of-state licenses when people are checking in,” Erkes said. “A lot of out-of-state license plates in the parking lot. We know that people want access to regulated lab-tested products and they don’t have access to that in those states.”

When Ohio had exclusively a medical program on July 22, the average cost of an ounce of flower was $222.40, according to state data. No more recent state data is available. But prices today appear higher – according to IHeartJane.com, a website to which many Ohio dispensaries upload their menus – from $290 to $420 an ounce. These prices should not pose a threat to Michigan dispensaries, where an ounce of flower typically sells for less than $100.

Anyone from Indiana or Kentucky, where marijuana sales are prohibited, can buy cannabis in Ohio if they’re old enough. But bringing it across state lines is illegal because marijuana is illegal at the federal level.

“Some people are willing to take that risk to get safe products,” Erkes said. “Once they walk out of the dispensary, where they consume it is really on them.”

Erkes said he couldn’t give a specific number or percentage on out-of-state sales and customers, but he’s seen enough to know there’s a market in those states.

The following list of locations was provided by the DCC on Monday morning. You can view a map of all the marijuana dispensaries in Ohio HERE.

 COLUMBUS – Recreational cannabis sales in Ohio have been legal for a week and business is booming. Sales in Ohio are rivaling some of the top cannabis markets in the country. It’s also attracting customers from nearby states, where recreational marijuana isn’t legal. But prices remain high in comparison to Michigan.  Read More