COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's long-awaited recreational marijuana sales begin on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Ohioans like Derek Johnson have been waiting for this day since voters legalized adult-use cannabis last November.
“It’s about time,” Johnson said. "People will be allowed to finally smoke in peace."
Clevelander John Turner was picking up some of his medical cannabis when we stopped him, with him saying he wanted to spread the love.
"I wanna see everybody else with smiles on their faces, finally able to enjoy what I've been enjoying for about a year now," Turner said.
Medical dispensaries were able to apply to sell recreationally at the beginning of the summer. Sales were anticipated to start in June but became slightly delayed. That being said, the state is still ahead of schedule. Technically, they have until September to issue the first batch of licenses.
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The Division of Cannabis Control had given provisional licenses to 134 dispensaries as of late July so they could sell both medically and recreationally once they received final approval.
A group of stores received approval Friday morning that they would be receiving a license with a certificate of operation, meaning their sales could start Tuesday.
RELATED: Recreational marijuana sales to start as early as Tuesday
Amplify Dispensary in Cleveland Heights told me they will be one of the first sellers.
"There's nothing more I can ask for," General Manager Marvin Keyes said. "I'm ready to get in here and increase that workload."
Keyes anticipates 200 people in his shop on opening day. His team has been preparing for months, which our news team has been covering, and the staff is ready to help serve any new consumer.
You got people in there that are really big flower consumers, and they can tell you the ins and outs of flower," Keyes said. "I have people that can teach you and educate you on edibles; I got people that are vape gurus."
Medical patients should know that they will still be prioritized in this process, he added.
"If it does start to get a little bit low, we have quantity thresholds where I'm cutting [recreational] off because I still need my med patients in Ohio to be able to get their medicine," the manager said.
Although Johnson is thrilled, he said that Ohio has more to do when it comes to equity.
"I want the people that are locked up for marijuana offenses to get released, to have those charges dropped or, expunged off their record," Johnson said. "It's 2024, let's update the world."
State lawmakers are currently working on bills that would expunge certain low-level offenses.
That isn't the only thing the state is trying to do. Gov. Mike DeWine, although he didn't want to comment Friday, did say he was appreciative of the Cannabis Divison. He has been worried that the longer sales took to start, the larger the black market would grow.
"He credits the Department of Commerce for making sure that they worked as quickly as possible," DeWine's spokesperson Dan Tierney said.
But when it comes to the lawmakers, the Ohio House and the Senate have been in a bitter battle when it comes to marijuana policy.
The Senate has proposed policies to deal with "safety concerns" that the governor has when it comes to weed. In doing so, they would limit home grow, reduce THC levels and ban the vast majority of vapes — among dozens of other restrictions and changes to what the voters chose.
House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) has been blocking it, and dispensaries have supported him.
"I just wanna say, shout out to the state for listening to us," Keyes said, adding that it was the right thing to do for democracy. "I'm ecstatic whenever lawmakers don't change what I vote on; I am a happy camper."
Consumers said they were fine waiting, as well, as long as they were able to get what they chose in Nov.
"I’ve always believed we should respect the will of the voters, so it makes sense sales will begin next week," Stephens told me Friday.
The lawmakers in both chambers allegedly agree that they want to put more stringent guidelines on advertising, but they can't agree on the vehicle. The House wants a clean version of a bill — meaning they don't want the Senate to "go against the will of the people," which is what House leaders say the other chamber is doing.
The Senate leaders have argued that the citizens didn't actually know what they were voting for and didn't fully realize — for example — how much THC they would be getting.
In their most recent move, the Senate proposed S.B. 278, a bill that would ban all public smoking or vaping, but they didn't reduce the home grow amount this time. House leaders, specifically marijuana enthusiast state Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord), said a public ban would not be happening under his watch.
Senate President Matt Huffman's team declined to comment Friday.
There will likely be no changes to marijuana policy until the end of the year since the chambers are in summer recess until after the Nov. election.
Before you buy
Consumers must be 21 years old and have a physical ID. Although Ohio just updated our ID rules to allow for Apple Wallet, places like Amplify still want the in-person version. Trying to buy underage would result in penalties similar to buying alcohol under 21.
You can have up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in all forms except for concentrates, which you can only have up to 15 grams.
Many dispensaries only take cash due to federal banking regulations, but plenty have ATMs at their stores. Some shops use third-party apps like Spendr to pay via phone.
Where you can buy
The state was not able to provide us with a list Friday of dispensaries that have received approval. They will have more information Monday.
- Amplify CH — 1782 Coventry Rd, Cleveland Heights. They open at 10 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
- Therapy Cannabis — 13429 Lakewood Heights Blvd, Cleveland
- gLeaf Warren — 2932 Youngstown Rd SE, Warren (plus other Cannabist Company locations in Dayton, Logan, Marietta and Monroe)
- Zen Leaf Canton — 3224 Cleveland Ave NW, Canton
- Zen Leaf Cincinnati — 8420 Vine St, Cincinnati (plus other Verano locations in Bowling Green and Dayton)
- The Landing Dispensary in Cleveland — 1978 W 3rd St, Cleveland
- The Landing Dispensary in Cincinnati — 4029 Smith Rd, Cincinnati (plus locations in Columbus and Monroe)
- Beyond Hello — 693 Old State Rte 74, Cincinnati
- The Botanist Wickliffe — 30133 Euclid Ave, Wickliffe
- The Botanist Cleveland — 3865 Lakeside Ave E, Cleveland
This is a developing list. If your dispensary has received approval for Tuesday sales, please email Morgan.Trau@wews.com with the subject line 'DISPENSARY APPROVAL' or email the general News 5 email at newsdesk@wews.com. We will be unaware that you are approved to sell if you do not contact us.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
