'I've been waiting for this for years!' Akron-area dispensaries begin recreational sales

Richard Gallo of Copley survived esophageal cancer, crediting his oncologist and surgeons at Cleveland Clinic Akron General for saving his life.

Another thing that he said helped him through chemotherapy and radiation — specifically to keep up his appetite and relax — was marijuana.

“I don’t think I would have got through it without a little bit of cannabis,” Gallo said.

Gallo, a self-described “snowbird” who spends his winters in California, let his Ohio medical marijuana card expire. But he joined a line of customers who purchased legal recreational marijuana in Ohio for the first time on Tuesday.

In line at The Botanist's Akron location, Gallo said the prices and taxes on Ohio recreational marijuana are high but that he didn’t want to pay an upfront fee to a doctor again for a medical marijuana card. The state, however, charges a 10% tax on all recreational marijuana sales.

Still, Gallo said, he’s glad recreational purchases of lab-tested marijuana are now legal, with people no longer facing criminal charges for using it.

“It’s nice Ohio’s moving along, catching up with the rest of the world,” Gallo said.

Customers purchase from a state-licensed Ohio dispensary for first time

Kyle Johnson of Akron came out of The Botanist with a half-ounce of 21%-THC hybrid flower on Tuesday morning.

He said The Botanist team quickly moved customers through their store.

“I think that today is a pretty big historic moment for Ohio," Johnson said, adding that he previously had purchased marijuana legally in Denver.

"I've been waiting for this for years!" exclaimed James Craig of Akron, who also made a purchase at The Botanist on Tuesday.

Craig said he has had experience purchasing recreational marijuana while traveling in California.

Compared to California prices, Craig said listed prices were higher at The Botanist on Tuesday, but added, "I'm sure they'll go down after a while."

Industry representatives have said prices will decrease, too.

Before entering the dispensary, Craig said he planned to purchase flower that another customer who was in line on Tuesday had recommended.

Preparations to have Ohio customers become 'part of history'

Executives at The Botanist and its parent company, Acreage Holdings, were expecting about a roughly 300% to 400% increase in people coming through The Botanist's Akron dispensary on Tuesday compared to the store's medical-only days, said Kate Ols, executive vice president of the Midwest and New England regions for Acreage.

By about 2 p.m. Tuesday, The Botanist's Akron store had more than 300 customers, which Ols said was twice as many patients as the dispensary usually sees in a full day. The store closes at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays.

"People are excited just for a lot of new guests coming to purchase the first time, for being a part of history," Ols said.

In the coming weeks and months, the team anticipates a roughly 150% average increase in people making purchases versus when the store only sold medical marijuana, Ols said.

Acreage recently hired about 75 dispensary employees among The Botanist's five Ohio locations in anticipation of recreational sales, Ols said. The business also hired about 30 manufacturing positions.

Supergood in Ravenna sees customers from in and out of town

As of 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, Ravenna dispensary Supergood saw about 225 new customers who made purchases that day, said Amanda Scharon, Supergood's general manager for Ohio. The majority of them were recreational customers, she said.

Jamie of Aurora, who declined to give her last name, was waiting outside the Supergood in Ravenna for her boyfriend to purchase some product for the two of them. In her case, that was disposable vaporizers.

"It's legal now, so we don't have to sneak around," she said.

Jamie said she uses marijuana for joint pain, and her boyfriend uses it for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

She said the Supergood, which is about 13 miles from Aurora, was one of the closer dispensaries to her that was open for recreational sales on Tuesday.

Kevin Pacheco of Ravenna purchased gummies and flower from Supergood in Ravenna on Tuesday.

Pacheco said he mostly uses marijuana for pain from a lifetime of working and a car accident.

"It helps out a lot. People don't realize how much it does," Pacheco said of marijuana. "Now that it's legal, you don't got to mess with the pharmaceutical drugs, which are worse for you, so I stay away from that."

Product in hand, he added, "I'm just going to go home and enjoy my day."

Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'I've been waiting for this for years!' Akron-area dispensaries begin recreational sales