Individuals lined up outside Sunnyside on Tuesday, the first day of adult-use marijuana sales at the Wintersville, Ohio dispensary.
WINTERSVILLE, Ohio — Potential customers lined up as early as 6 a.m. Tuesday, three hours before Sunnyside opened to sell recreational marijuana for the first time since the company received a license to operate from the Division of Cannabis Control.
Sunnyside is one of 98 existing medical marijuana dispensaries that have received a dual-use certificate from DCC, the Ohio Department of Commerce’s cannabis regulatory agency. Tuesday’s launch of sales marked the most significant event for legalization efforts since voters legalized the drug and provided for its regulation on Nov. 7 with the passage of Issue 2.
After setting up separate lines for existing medical patients and new recreational customers, Sunnyside’s Wintersville branch began admitting patients into the branch around 9:00 a.m. to scattered applause from employees and eager jostling from customers.
Among the excited employees was Kierston Powell, senior regional marketing manager for the eastern district of Cresco Labs Inc., which operates Sunnyside and grows its cannabis products. All five Sunnyside dispensaries in Ohio have received COOs, and all but the Newark location began sales on Tuesday; that one started on Wednesday.
“It’s very exciting. I feel like this is a historic moment that we’ve all been waiting for,” said Powell, wearing a Sunnyside T-shirt and marijuana leaf earrings.
Customers – who must be at least 21 years old – enter the main entrance and, with a valid ID or health insurance card, are allowed into the showroom. From there, they follow a line that shows them walls of merchandise and buffets of product packages. The products themselves are stored in a safe and are available upon purchase.
The line on Tuesday got longer after the doors opened, and Powell said that was to be expected. Sunnyside has been preparing for the influx of new customers since January. Long lines are expected during the first few weeks of recreational sales.
Those waiting in line included residents of neighboring states Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York. The first two states have medical programs, but recreational marijuana use remains illegal. At the federal level, it is also illegal to transport cannabis across state lines.
Customers in line who asked not to be identified said that recreational marijuana sales in Ohio have been long-awaited. Some said that because of the precedent set in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are next in line to begin selling marijuana for adult use.
Also present at Sunnyside’s opening was Wintersville Mayor Mike Petrella. He said Sunnyside’s certification is “great news for the village” as he anticipates an expected increase in traffic and the associated impact on surrounding businesses. Thirty-six percent of the excise tax revenue will be returned to the village, he said, and that’s on top of the 7.25 percent sales tax already in place in Jefferson County.
“We know that there could be problems if someone drives under the influence of alcohol, but our police are also prepared for that,” said Petrella.
Two officers were at Petrella’s Tuesday morning, and Wintersville police planned to have an officer stationed at the store until 10 p.m.
Petrella is the former owner of Wintersville-based medical marijuana dispensary Ohio Valley Natural Relief LLC, which was purchased over a month ago by Greenlight Dispensary. St. Louis-based Greenlight operates 34 dispensaries — divided into medical and dual-use markets — in seven states.
Casey Efting, Greenlight’s head of retail, said OVNR is Greenlight’s first foray into the Ohio cannabis market, where the company is looking to build additional retail stores based on its experience in other states.
“We understand the transition from the medical market to the adult-use or recreational market. … “We’re really excited to go through that process again. We went through that (transition) in Missouri last February. It’s really great that anyone over 21 who consumes these products has safe access.”
