Pace of Ohio Recreational Marijuana sales slows in second week
Ohio's Adult-Use Marijuana Sales Reach $22,47 Million in First Two Weeks.
Ohio has sold $22.47 million in non-medical marijuana since adult-use sales began on Aug. 6, according to the latest update from the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control.
That amount includes approximately $11.53 million in rec sales over the first five days (Aug. 6-10) and $10.94 million over the following week (Aug. 11-17).
Industry operators indicate that sales were especially strong on the inaugural day and the following Saturday. In general, whether medical or adult-use, marijuana sales often mirror alcohol trends in terms of activity picking up at the end of the week.
Regardless of any ups and downs, these figures point to an average of $2.3 million in rec sales per day across the first five days.
Over the following week, however, that value of average sales per day ticked down to $1.56 million. Medical marijuana sales during the comparable five- and seven-day time frames totaled approximately $8.31 million (about $1.66 million per day on average) and $7.58 million (about $1.08 million per day on average), respectively.
While Ohio’s launch of adult-use sales has been somewhat unconventional with the state announcing the first day of non-medical sales just a few days in advance, sales activity has been trending ahead of some other adult-use markets in their early days—though that comes with an asterisk when comparing to markets like Michigan and Illinois.
As rec marijuana launched in Michigan in late 2019, the state recorded just $1.6 million in non-medical sales over the first eight days (or $200,000 on average per day). However, Michigan had just five adult-use retailers at the time, three of which ran out of supplies.
Illinois also faced a product shortage when adult-use sales launched there in late 2019, forcing shops to close. The state nonetheless recorded approximately $10.83 million over its first week (about $1.55 million per day on average).
Ohio cannabis companies stocked up on products in the run-up to adult use here. That, coupled with a ho-hum medical market, means that there is no shortage of products in the market at this time.
There are also nearly 100 retailers licensed for adult-use sales in Ohio. While more dispensaries will be coming online in the future, there’s already relatively decent access to stores.
While the pace of adult-use sales in Ohio has slowed somewhat in the second week, operators have been generally pleased with the activity so far.
Jared Maloof, CEO of Standard Wellness, an Ohio-based and vertically integrated multistate operator with three dispensaries open in the state right now under “The Forest” brand, said same-store sales at his locations have settled in around an increase of two to three times.
“And we think there is room to grow,” he said.
“Ohioans were clearly ready and excited for the historic end of cannabis prohibition in the Buckeye State,” said Trip McDermott, chief operating officer of Chicago-based Verano, after Ohio’s rec launch. “Since the start of adult-use sales, foot traffic and transactions have already increased two- to three times across all five Zen Leaf dispensaries statewide in comparison to previous medical-only operations, and we expect to continue seeing robust activity at our stores and via third-party wholesale sales of our products for the foreseeable future.”
