Ohio Launches Recreational Cannabis with 98 Operators
The wait is over. After initially postponing the start of legal cannabis retail, Ohio is finally all set to launch its adult-use marijuana market. Ohioan recreational cannabis users can now legally purchase marijuana flower, edibles, concentrates, tinctures, and other potent products at nearly 100 locations around the state.
Ohio state regulators inspected cannabis businesses throughout July to ensure that they are compliant with the state’s marijuana legalization law. Now they have finally given the green light for nearly 100 businesses that they can start legal marijuana retail on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
It’s estimated that legal cannabis sales in Ohio will bring at least $280 million in profits by 2028, counting excise tax and state local sales taxes, according to the Ohio’s State’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center.
Where Can You Find Cannabis in Ohio and Who Can Make Purchases?
Ohio’s Division of Cannabis has prepared an online map where recreational users can browse and check all licensed locations where adult-use cannabis is sold.
While 98 locations in total have received permission to sell marijuana, it’s still unclear how many of those locations will be ready and operational on Aug. 6.
Most shops will be ready to open immediately, but some business owners will take time to sort out inventory or hire stuff.
Below is a list of cannabis companies that announced they would launch recreational retail on Tuesday:
- Curaleaf Holdings
- Green Thumb Industries (Rise)
- Klutch Cannabis (The Citizen by Klutch)
- Pharmacann (Verilife)
- The Cannabist Company (Columbia Care + gLeaf)
- Trulieve Cannabis Corp.
- Verano Holdings (Zen Leaf)
- Vext Science (Herbal Wellness Center)
What Cannabis Products Can Be Purchased at Ohio Weed Shops?
Users can handpick from different types of cannabis products at Ohio legal dispensaries.
Flower or buds is the most popular cannabis delivery method. Ohio’s medical program prohibited smoking cannabis flower, however, with the arrival of the recreational legislation that ban is over, and now it’s officially permitted smoking marijuana.
Vaporizers and vape pens, the portable devices where you heat marijuana flower or oils, beloved by a whole new generation of cannabis users, will be also available at Ohio legal weed dispensaries.
Edibles and drinkables, another popular choice among adult users, are coming in all forms and shapes at Ohio cannabis shops: gummies, chocolate, candy, pretzels, space cookies, dissolvables, and more.
There will also be Concentrates, or cannabis in its distilled form. It’s marijuana for the rough riders: rosin, hash, shatter, budder, wax, crumble, and more.
And Topicals, such as beauty lotions, face creams, bath balms, pain relief dermal patches, etc.
How Much Weed Ohioans Are Legally Allowed to Purchase?
The rules say that adults 21 and over can buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces (70 grams) of flower, or 15 grams of edibles and extracts.
Now the interesting part is that in Ohio they’ve measured and packed cannabis flower a bit differently. Typically, flower is sold in measurements of one gram or per eighth-of-an-ounce. Therefore, if an ounce weighs 28.3 grams, one-eighth of marijuana is around 3.5 grams, one-quarter is around 7 grams, and half of that is 14 grams.
Under Ohio’s medical cannabis program, thus far, cannabis has been measured in tenths. So, one-tenth has been 2.8 grams, three-tenths is 8.4 grams and so forth. It remains to see if that changes with adult-use rules in place.
Finally, everyone who wants to buy legal cannabis in Ohio can do so by presenting a valid ID card and preferably cash. But if you don’t carry cash on your way to a legal shop, don’t worry. Most dispensaries have an ATM on-site. Many also offer cashless transactions or payments via apps such as CanPay, but those options might come with additional fees.
The other good news with legalization is that, if you don’t want to spend on purchases, but still want to smoke, you can always grow it yourself at home. In Ohio, you can now legally grow up to six plants for personal use and keep up to 12 plants per household at the most.
Ohio voters approved recreational cannabis on the ballot last November, making the Buckeye State the 24th legal state in the US. Legal marijuana purchases are subject to a 10% tax, according to the law. Tax money collected from marijuana will be split between administrative costs, addiction treatment programs, and to sustain social equity and employment programs within the cannabis sector.
Also read on Soft Secrets:
- What Led to Minnesota's THC Beverage Boom?
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Stephen Andrews
