Staff photo / Chris McBride A line of people bear the rainy weather as they await their chance to enter gLeaf Medical Cannabis in Warren on Tuesday for the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales in Ohio.

WARREN — Neither the rain nor the long lines could drown out the excitement of Mahoning Valley residents flocking to dispensaries for the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales Tuesday.

The day was made possible when Ohio voters in November approved the legalization of recreational marijuana with a 57% majority statewide. In Trumbull County, the measure passed with 33,885 votes for and 30,051 against. In Mahoning County, it passed with 38,524 votes in favor and 35,723 against, according to results from the county boards of elections.

The new law allows adults 21 and over to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and to grow plants at home, with a 10% tax on purchases aimed at covering administrative costs and funding social equity programs.

At gLeaf Medical Cannabis in Warren, employees said lines at times wrapped around the building. For those looking to purchase, come with cash as the store doesn’t accept credit cards.

About 215 new customers came out to the location, building on the 319 existing customers they had for medical use, according to Cannabist Company representatives. The Cannabist Company manages various retail operations, while gLeaf focuses on both retail and cultivation.

Their roles are complementary, with The Cannabist Company overseeing retail activities and gLeaf providing products through cultivation and retail locations, such as the gLeaf dispensary in Warren. Both the Cannabist Company and gLeaf (Green Leaf Medical) are subsidiaries of Columbia Care, a prominent multi-state operator in the cannabis industry.

CUSTOMER STORIES

Nearing her chance to enter after about a half hour wait, Callie Rita, a 33-year-old Niles resident, was excited for the opportunity.

“I wanted to be a part of this historic day of recreation and it finally became purchasable without a medical card,” she said.

Rita has been a cannabis user since she was 18, having grown up in an environment where its usage was normalized.

“It’s been part of my family and part of my culture. I’ve also come to learn about the benefits for the mind and the body, and I wanted to be a part of that,” she said.

Initially, Rita sought a medical card after moving from the legal state of Colorado to Ohio. She developed back and neck issues while working from home as a specialist connecting homeowners with contractors during COVID-19, which led to frequent visits to a chiropractor for treatment.

One benefit she’s hoping to see is less stigmatization of marijuana users. She shared her experience in Colorado.

“I had a friend who had a growing operation and had to shut down. They had a whole warehouse full of plants and didn’t want to just throw them away,” she said.

She recounted how they ended up with “10 potted plants in the back of a truck just driving down the road,” and how it didn’t feel strange at all because marijuana is such a part of the culture there.

However, Rita said the biggest benefit will be the one seen from the tax revenue.

“It was something so prevalent in Colorado. There was so much from taxes that there were no potholes, It was so beautiful and everything was well maintained,” she said. “I think Ohio could really use that. Other communities don’t know what they’re missing but once they get a taste of it, they’re going to see the benefits.”

Standing nearby, Jared Ward, 28, of McDonald, called the day “amazing,” as he demonstrated his excitement to be able to do something less dangerous than alcohol.

“I mean you’re able to go to war at 21, so you should be able to do this,” he said.

For about 10 years Ward has been a cannabis user, beginning as a casual user among friends or at parties.

McDonald officials recently banned the sale of recreational marijuana in the village.

Like Rita, Ward also was a medical card user that got his card to deal with PTSD from trauma endured as a child.

A 66-year-old from Newton Falls, Robert Howard said it was good to be getting weed legally for the first time. While living in Aspen, Colorado, he said he only casually grew marijuana plants before a $400,000 operation on his back made weed more of a constant fixture in his life.

“I couldn’t sleep at night with the pain in my back, before I couldn’t even walk but I was unable to get a medical card because it was so difficult,” he said.

Typically, he said he’s used to going to the Trumbull County Board of Elections to vote early but was excited to venture across the street for his first time purchasing legal marijuana.

Erick Rodriguez, vice president of retail operations at the Cannabist Company, who spent Tuesday at the company’s Marietta facility, described the day as a “great day across the state.”

He mentioned that this success was not limited to their locations, such as gLeaf, but extended to many other dispensaries throughout Ohio.

In anticipation for a boom in sales, Rodriguez said they hired seven employees to man their Warren location a month-and-a-half ago.

“Flower will always be king,” Rodriguez said, confirming it as the top selling product throughout the first day.

“We have an opportunity to make a difference, whether it’s us or another dispensary,” Rodriguez said, describing an interaction with a customer. “This customer said he waited so long to be able to walk into a dispensary in Ohio to legally purchase weed, and he said he woke up this morning with tears in his eyes.”

STRUTHERS DISPENSARY

Customers also lined up around the building at Green Leaf Therapy on Bridge Street in the city on Tuesday.

Green Leaf opened in April 2023 as a medical marijuana dispensary. The Ohio Department of Cannabis Control afforded special consideration to recreational sales applications submitted by medical dispensaries. At least some of the patrons were already regular marijuana users, either for medical or recreational purposes.

“I’ve been waiting for this since I was 14, so I had to come down and at least see what it was all about,” said Francis McKinney of Youngstown.

McKinney, 63, a former machinist on the verge of retirement, said using marijuana keeps him relaxed and he finds it agrees with him much more than alcohol.

“It’s better for you than booze, it doesn’t rot your liver,” he said. “People go out, get drunk, get angry, next thing you know, they grab a gun and you got a problem. You smoke a little weed, you relax, and maybe just bug the missus for some potato chips while you watch some TV.”

McKinney said he spent about $65 and $90 each on two half-ounces of cannabis, one a sativa flower product and the other a strain called “Shady Boof Trim.”

He said in his 50 years of smoking marijuana, he has not seen any ill health effects, touting a recent scan of his lungs that came up clean. McKinney said he thinks the business will do well.

“When they see how much tax money this is going to raise, I don’t think they’ll have any objection to this place expanding,” he said.

Nancy Miller of Brookfield shared McKinney’s thoughts about marijuana’s comparative benefits.

“I think it should have been done a long time ago,” she said. “What they should do is take all the alcohol off the shelves.”

Miller said she has had her medical card to use marijuana for pain management for a little over two years because she had to have two steel rods put into her back. Miller said she preordered her edibles through Green Leaf’s website.