A Madisonville resident made one of the first recreational marijuana purchases at a Greater Cincinnati dispensary Tuesday morning, the first day of legal sales in Ohio.
A crowd of roughly a dozen people gathered outside the Sunnyside dispensary on Kennedy Avenue in Columbia Township before daylight Tuesday hoping to be among the first to buy recreational marijuana legally.
Jeff Riede was first in line. The 55-year-old said he’d been waiting in his car in the parking lot since about 6:30 p.m. Monday for the dispensary to open at 7 a.m. He planned to buy edibles and some flower, the dried cannabis material.
“Yeah, I slept in my car,” Riede said. “This is pretty epic to me. I wanted to be the first one here.”
Riede, who is self-employed, said he's been smoking marijuana since he was 18, but he doesn’t like the risk associated with buying marijuana on the black market. That’s one of the reasons he’s so excited about the dispensary opening for recreational users.
“It’s just safer at the dispensary,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about getting robbed or about it (marijuana) being laced with something that might hurt you.”
A place to 'buy safely and have a choice'
Rob Busemeyer, 50, didn’t spend the night in his car. But the Norwood resident arrived appropriately at 4:20 a.m. to be second in line at the dispensary.
The term “420” generally refers to marijuana in counterculture circles.
“It’s like the prohibition of marijuana has been lifted,” Busemeyer said while standing in line. “Now I have someplace to go where I can buy safely and have a choice and not be stuck with whatever’s available” on the black market.
'I've been waiting for this for so long'
By 8 a.m., the line outside Sunnyside stretched far beyond the stanchions funneling customers into the dispensary. But Northside resident Jean Maye, 47, had completed her purchase of flower and edibles by then.
As she left the dispensary, Maye raised her shopping bag and shouted, “It’s official!’’ Many of those standing in line applauded.
“This is just awesome. I’ve been waiting for this for so long,’’ she told The Enquirer.
Manager: 'We're excited to see everyone'
Ron Koth was first in line at Zen Leaf in Hartwell, which was no easy feat. He took two buses from his Delhi home to be in line by 7:30 a.m.
“I left at 6,” he said. His goal wasn’t to be first but simply to get in line.
“I don’t think a lot of people know what’s happening yet,” he said. “I thought there’d be a lot more people in line.”
By the time doors opened at 9 a.m., Koth was trailed by about 25 others waiting for service. He chose Zen Leaf over other dispensaries closer to his home because he liked the array of products advertised on its website.
In Westwood, Nectar, a dispensary located at Werk Road and Glenway Avenue, had a mostly full queue on the first day of recreational sales, with a wait between 15-30 minutes.Justin Mack, zone manager for Nectar’s three Ohio stores, recommended checking out the dispensary website and product menu to get familiar with the products before coming to the dispensary. Also, customers should have their IDs and money out, he said. Dispensaries are cash only. “We’re excited to see everyone,” Mack said.
Where is it being sold?
On Monday, the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control said 98 dispensaries are set to be issued dual-use certificates of operation statewide Tuesday morning.
The 19 in the Cincinnati region are:
- Ascend Dispensary Outlet, 830 Reedy St., Cincinnati.
- Beyond Hello, 693 Old State Route 74, Cincinnati.
- Bloom Medicinals, 403 S. Main St., Seven Mile.
- Columbia Care, 300 N. Main Street, Monroe.
- Consume Oxford, 3620 Southpointe Pkwy, Oxford.
- Nectar, 3405 Werk Road, Cincinnati.
- Pure Iconic, 5280 College Corner Pike, Oxford.
- Queen City Cannabis, 3764 Montgomery Road, Norwood.
- Queen City Cannabis, 10140 Suspension Bridge Road, Harrison.
- Shangri-La Dispensary, 211 Brooks Dr., Monroe.
- Shangri-La Dispensary, 100 Clarence F. Warner Dr., Monroe.
- Sunnyside, 5149 Kennedy Ave., Cincinnati.
- The Forest Cincinnati, 4412 Mount Carmel Tobasco Road, Cincinnati.
- The Landing, 4029 Smith Road, Cincinnati.
- The Landing, 1312 Hamilton Lebanon Road, Monroe.
- Uplift, 101 Mercy Boulevard, Mount Orab.
- Uplift, 401 Rivers Edge, Milford.
- Verilife, 5431 Ridge Ave., Cincinnati.
- Zen Leaf Cincinnati, 8420 Vine St., Cincinnati.
These dispensaries will be allowed to sell to both medical and recreational customers age 21 and older.
"The issuance of (certificates) is based on roughly the order in which completed applications were received by the Division and when compliance asks were fulfilled," the agency said in a statement. "To help ensure a fair and equitable rollout of the non-medical cannabis market in Ohio, the Division intends to award (certificates) to all remaining eligible dispensaries later this week."
Adults 21 and older can possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and 15 grams of extracts or edibles in Ohio since voters legalized its use inlast November's election.
But there are limits on what you can buy in one transaction. Initially, recreational customers can purchase no more than:
- One ounce of dried plant material, called flower.
- Ten units of oil to vape, each containing 590mg of THC.
- Ten packages of edibles totaling no more than 1,100mg of THC.
The caps are combined across all types of products. That means you can't purchase the maximum amount of flower, vape cartridges and edibles in one sitting.
The Enquirer will update this report.
