Ohio's Early Cannabis Sales Draw Crowds Despite High Prices
Ohio's earliest cannabis sales drew crowds across the state. Some have sticker shock.
For Brian Wingfield, the wee hours of Tuesday morning felt reminiscent of late December, even though it was already 75 degrees Fahrenheit at 4 a.m. in Columbus.
“I kind of felt like a kid on Christmas morning who got up before his parents did, knows he can't get out of bed yet and he's just sitting there, waiting for the appropriate time to get up,” Wingfield said in a interview.
He owns three medical marijuana dispensaries, and Ohio Cannabis Co. was among the 98 dispensaries statewide to get dual-use certificates of operation to sell to both medical and non-medical customers who are 21 or older.
The Division of Cannabis Control, the agency overseeing the adult-use program, started notifying dispensaries Friday of their operational certificates—the final puzzle piece most were waiting on. Before Friday, only cultivators, processors and labs had the certificates.
Days later, sales commenced Tuesday statewide.
Just off Interstate 75 in Piqua, some of Ohio Cannabis Co.'s earliest non-medical customers were met with a short line outside and a crowded waiting room inside, where most browsed a printout product packet as others were ushered through the double-door hallway to buy. Under the summer sun, at times, a line of cars waiting for online orders in the drive-through queue snaked around the black-brown building.
Todd Toner, 47, and his son Sean, 24, took a break from drywall installation, their family's business, and made the short drive from Sidney.
“By the time we got here, there was already a line and everything,” Sean said in an interview in the parking lot, after buying inside. “It was damn near packed, already.“
His father said he didn't balk at the costs of their individual hauls, which included flower and edibles concealed in black plastic bags.
“I didn't make special trips up to Michigan, but I know people who have,” Toner said in an interview. “It's been up there so long that they've gotten so many dispensaries, they kind of flooded the market, and then they had to get competitive, and their prices came down.”
He's holding out that Ohio will follow that trend. Ozius Sharp, on the other hand, let his medical card lapse prior to recreational sales but is now reconsidering.
“I'm going to do the math on it,” Sharp said in an interview.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old said non-medical prices were a put-off. He bought one THC cartridge.
“I didn't go crazy today. It wasn't like a kid in a candy store,” Sharp said.
Products are coming in at a higher cost, Wingfield said, because of concerns about shortages—even those maybe two to three months down the line. It will take time for growers to get their footing in the non-medical environment, which is much wider than it was before.
“And then we'll see the prices kind of drift back down,” Wingfield said. “As someone who's on both sides of the counter, I'd like to see the prices come down too.”
He believes those shortages will be most acute among plant products rather than processed products like cartridges or oils.
Despite the price, Sharp said he's thrilled Ohio legalized recreational growth, use and sale.
“I think that for me and for a lot of people, it just allows us a safe way to work through our conditions,” he said. “Just being able to go in, and even if you have to pay a little more to get it, that's a big deal. That's lifesaving.”
