During the first week of legal non-medical marijuana sales in Ohio, recreational dispensaries across the state generated more than $10 million in sales, according to data from the Department of Commerce’s Division of Cannabis Control.
From Tuesday through Saturday last week, dispensaries with dual-use licenses sold $11.53 million worth of products to nonmedical customers age 21 and older, according to data released Wednesday. That included more than 1,200 pounds of flower material and 173,000 units of processed products.
During the same period, medical sales nationwide totaled about $8.32 million. The nationwide medical marijuana program began in January 2019, and since then, sales have totaled about $1.92 billion.
Sunnyside, a chain of medical and recreational dispensaries with locations throughout the East Coast and the Midwest, has five dispensaries that have received dual-use licenses in Ohio. Sunnyside spokesman Jason Erkes said the dispensaries are now seeing twice as much sales and more than twice as much customer traffic.
“No matter how you look at it, Ohio is on par with established recreational markets like Illinois in terms of sales and footfall,” Erkes said in an interview.
But product prices have also skyrocketed. Since non-medical sales began, they have risen by an average of $1.55 per gram of plant material – or $4.38 per tenth of an ounce, the state’s standard calculation for a daily dose. For processed products, prices are an average of $1.60 higher per unit, meaning the highest price increases are for plant products.
