Hype isn’t dying around Ohio recreational marijuana, sales data shows

View a previous report from the launch of recreational sales in the video player above.

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — Ohio dispensaries are raking in cash from recreational marijuana, and although it doesn’t compare to medical sales’ running total, regulators’ data shows the new business is gaining on it.

Since Aug. 6 effectively became the official launch date of recreational marijuana sales, the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control has recorded weekly totals for both types of cannabis business. Through a lengthy approval process over the summer, the state converted its medical dispensaries to dual-use , making them the only official channel to buy recreational products.

Luckily for interested buyers, the majority of the state’s dispensaries filed to convert to dual-use, bringing existing grow facilities and supply chains with them. In Franklin County alone, the DCC listed 13 dual-use dispensaries open for business as of Wednesday.

With many cannabis shops opting into the new form of sales, Ohio has already seen a noteworthy outcome within a month of launch. From Aug. 6 to Aug. 10, the DCC said the state’s dispensaries racked up $11,530,708. The latest data from the week of Aug. 17 showed customers shed little steam in their interest in adult-use cannabis, coming close to doubling the dollar total for recreational sales.

The DCC’s reports don’t include individual sales numbers per week, and instead stack them together for an all-time score. Because Ohio’s medical marijuana program launched in 2019, its sales appear to dwarf recreational business with a running total of nearly $2 billion. But in actuality, recreational revenue is outpacing medical.

In the same week adult-use cannabis raked in $11 million, medical sales accounted for $8,316,765. During the week of Aug. 17, dispensaries reported another $10,942,756 in recreational sales while medical scored $7,584,399.

Corey Bix works in upper management for Elevated Growth, a dispensary operating out of Worthington. The shop sits in a prime location to draw in customers, as New Albany to the east has completely banned both types of marijuana business, and the DCC lists only one dual-use dispensary in Delaware County to the north.

Those customer pipelines have led to Elevated Growth seeing a big turnout since they launched recreational sales Aug. 7. Alongside traffic from Worthington's suburbs, Bix noted the shop is seeing customers traveling to sample different dispensaries' wares.

"We continue to see, you know, three times our daily foot traffic during medical, in this now medical and nonmedical phase," Bix said. "It's frequently people from those areas, but honestly, I'll say for the whole state of the Ohio, we see people driving from as far away as Newark. You know, people will fly through from Cleveland, Dayton … and we see people that have become kind of cannabis tourists."

The manager said hands down, his shop's highest-selling product is marijuana flower, but many new cannabis users are also trying edibles for their first time. With a healthy customer base, Bix doesn't think recreational sales will slow down any time soon.

"We had a busy first week," Bix said. "We're having had an even busier second week and we're gonna have an even busier third week. It continues to grow as word gets out."

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