CINCINNATI (WXIX) – The sale of recreational marijuana has been legal in Ohio for a week and business is booming.
Sales in Ohio and the Greater Cincinnati area rival those of some of the largest cannabis markets in the country, and the company also draws customers from neighboring states where recreational marijuana is not legal.
“We’re seeing numbers at dispensaries that rival numbers in established markets like Illinois that have been around for years,” said Jason Erkes of Cresco Labs. “That’s what we’re seeing in the first week in Ohio.”
Cresco Labs owns the Sunnyside Dispensary in Cincinnati. Erkes said demand from Ohioans and other states is high.
“We see a lot of out-of-state driver’s licenses when we check in,” Erkes said. “There are a lot of out-of-state license plates in the parking lot. We know people want access to regulated, lab-tested products, and they don’t have access to that in those states.”
Anyone from Indiana or Kentucky, where marijuana sales are prohibited, can buy cannabis in Ohio if they are old enough. But importing 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 leave the pharmacy, it’s really up to them where they consume it.”
Erkes said he couldn’t give specific numbers or percentages for out-of-state sales and customers, but he’s seen enough to know there’s a market in those states.
“These states are leaving a lot of tax revenue unused,” said Erkes.
Not all of Ohio’s neighboring states have banned the sale of recreational marijuana. Michigan legalized recreational marijuana in 2018 and prices are significantly lower there.
“Every state has different structures and rules,” Erkes said. “Michigan is not a limited license state, which means the state is really saturated with businesses and they compete with each other, which drives prices down and causes many companies to go bankrupt.”
Although prices are higher and consumers are spending more, Erkes believes Ohio’s approach is better in the long run.
“By allowing expansion in a number of stores and building on that, it’s really a smart way to ensure the stability and sustainability of the cannabis program,” Erkes said.
FOX19 NOW reached out to Kentucky State Police to ask how they would handle interstate transportation of cannabis from Ohio to Kentucky. We asked if people should expect more patrols near bridges or exercise increased caution during traffic stops, but KSP did not have a response at the time of this article’s publication.
Do you see a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video to accompany a current news story? Send it here with a short description.
All rights reserved.
