On the one-year anniversary of recreational marijuana sales in Ohio, some local retailers say the rollout has been slower than expected.
About 57% of Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2023 to legalize the sale of marijuana for recreational adult use. Those sales began Aug. 6, 2024.
Given the success of recreational sales in other states, retailers expected a big boom right off the bat, said Tracey McMillin, chief operating officer of Pure Ohio Wellness, which operates dispensaries in several counties.
“We all kind of thought it was going to be like some of the other states where there were lines around the block and you were selling out every day,” McMillin said. “I think because of the conservative way that the program has been rolled out, that was not the case.”
That’s because, one year later, state regulators are still working on rules, such as the types of products and the amounts that can be sold, McMillin said.
Pete Nischt, vice president at Akron-based Klutch Cannabis, said managing consumer expectations while awaiting all of the regulations has been a challenge. Customers ask why they can’t purchase pre-rolls — commonly known as joints — like they can in other states, he said.
“People come into the store and they ask questions — ‘Why don't you guys have pre-rolls? Why don't you have this kind of product yet? Why are you selling in this increment and not this increment?’" Nischt explained.
He added that he expects the Ohio market to take off like in other states once those rules are addressed and clarified.
The Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Cannabis Control released guidance for selling joints last week, and dispensaries should be able to start sales soon, McMillin said.
Once that happens, she’s expecting a major uptick in sales.
“It’s been a year of just slowly making the changes that we think we're going to need as this market really takes off,” McMillin added.
Regulations for marketing guidelines will help sales as well, Nischt said.
“We are not allowed to necessarily advertise in an adult-use way, or in like a recreational away, I guess, yet, because the rules governing the program right now, as far as advertising go, are medical rules,” Nischt said.
There’s also a lack of restrictions on the sale of hemp products, which has allowed non-licensed retailers like gas stations to sell products that contain marijuana, he added.
“There’s a lot of brick-and-mortar retailers that do not have state licenses that are also calling themselves recreational dispensaries,” Nischt said. “There's all these layers and layers of consumer protections that are in place in the regulated supply chains that do not … exist in these other, outside of the regulated supply chain. So, there's a lot of confusion in the market right now.”
State lawmakers are working on a bill that aims to address retailers selling marijuana products without a license. House Bill 160 was introduced earlier this year and is being reviewed by a committee.
Though the rollout was slower than expected, recreational marijuana sales recently topped $702 million, according to the Division of Cannabis Control. Combined non-medical and medical sales recently topped $2.9 billion.
Both Klutch and Pure Ohio Wellness have expanded operations over the past year. Klutch opened dispensaries in Downtown Cleveland and Loudonville, and Springfield-based Pure Ohio Wellness is set to open a new location in Tallmadge in the coming weeks, McMillin said.
Northeast Ohio is a big market for recreational sales, she noted.
“There’s a large customer base in the northern part of the state,” McMillin said. “There are a lot of dispensaries, but we had a lot of requests for our products there.”
Both Nischt and McMillin said they are doing everything they can to train staff and prepare for a new wave of customers as more regulations are finalized.
“I think the program overall, it is moving in a positive direction,” McMillin said. “Every step forward with the recreational rules is just one more step to help the consumer better understand what's going on.”
