First day of Ohio recreational marijuana sales a success, say dispensaries

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Several dispensaries across central Ohio called the first day of recreational marijuana sales in the state a success, and believe that, for at least the immediate future, that success will continue.

For customers, the excitement was clear as people came to dispensaries all across central Ohio.

In Westerville, the line wrapped around the building at Trulieve. 

"It's pretty exciting, honestly. I feel like it's been a long time coming, especially for central Ohio," customer Kyle Shrader said. 

In downtown Columbus, a medical user came out just to take part in the day.

"It's opening up to a new a whole new world,” medical card holder Broderick Randle II said. “We've already, you know, originally had medical cannabis, but now more awareness is on our side.”

Trulieve said it expected to triple its usual sales on Tuesday; however, when NBC4 checked in with employees just before noon, they said now it’s looking like it will be more like five times the usual sales.

"These are the days that you kind of live for when you get into this sort of industry and especially the day that it flips is a huge one,” Trulieve Director of State Operations Nick Rassler said. “You just get to celebrate it.”

Other stores shared the same excitement. 

"So far, so good, super high excitement,” The Botanist Director of Retail Operations Gywn Musgrave said. “Customers, staff, a lot of people stopping on the road and saying, ‘What's up? What's going on? Are you guys selling to non-medical customers?’"

In Newark, Curaleaf’s Senior Vice President for the Central Region Paul Chialdikas said the retailer has been planning for this day for months.

“Our planners, our buyers, our cultivation experts, our lab managers, we’re all ramping up our production to meet this demand that’s going to continue for a while,” Chialdkas said.

Leaders at Terrasana, in Columbus, believe they’ll be riding this high for the foreseeable future.

“Our goals as a company is just to really get to that next level, and we want to be a pillar in the community and that’s something that we really strive to do,” Terrasana General Manager Danette Farlow said.

As far as demand, Chialdikas said it wasn’t an immediate concern.

“Our growth cycle in a cultivation site could take anywhere from four to five and a half months while, when a plant is cloned or seeded, by the time it ends up in a packaged material in a store, could be anywhere from four to five months,” he said.

All the dispensaries’ employees said Tuesday was about the customer experience, making them feel as comfortable as possible. Wednesday, they said, would be more of the same.