Area dispensaries have ‘fantastic turnout’

LIMA — Sarah McCullough thanked her staff at Backroad Wellness for being prepared and efficient with the crowd that showed up Tuesday to be among the first customers for legal recreational marijuana in the region.

Although the Lima medical marijuana dispensary will be limited for the first month, it will be legally allowed to sell recreational cannabis, along with 97 other dispensaries in the state of Ohio following the November ballot initiative that made it possible.

“We actually had a fantastic turnout today,” the general manager of the dispensary said Tuesday. “Everyone was in good spirits even with the heat and the humidity going on, but I really am absolutely thrilled today.”

McCullough said Monday the state’s newly formed Division of Cannabis Control sent out guidance on how opening day is supposed to go while dispensaries are still operating under medical marijuana rules for a month.

“The recreational customers are restricted to a 10-day supply for the time being, just so we can make sure we don’t run out of product across the state,” she said. “But we will be able to loosen up things like advertising a bit more, hopefully.”

Backroad Wellness, 1503 Harding Highway, Lima, will join other area dispensaries such as Shangri-La, 215 W. Fifth St., Delphos; and Verilife, 502 N. Dixie Highway, Wapakoneta; to begin selling following the announcement out of Columbus on Monday.

“Shangri-La’s staff have been training and preparing for months in anticipation of adult-use sales tomorrow,” CEO Nevil Patel said through a spokesperson. “We’re prepared to provide recreational use customers with the safe, quality access to cannabis we’ve been delivering to our medical customers.”

The DCC, part of the Ohio Department of Commerce, issued dual-use Certificates of Operation to the dispensaries, 98 total, a month before the Sept. 7 deadline the statute voters passed called for.

The result Tuesday was what McCullough said was a significant increase compared to normal business.

“We were in the several hundreds of total transactions,” she said late Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve seen a lot of people today. We knew that it would be our bread and butter and we’re still here for our medical patients so we enjoyed seeing them come in and catch the good vibes.”

Verilife dispensary in Wapakoneta reported heavy business.

The Associated Press reported dozens lined up outside dispensaries in Columbus and Youngstown to count themselves among the pioneering customers.

The Ohio Cannabis Coalition applauded the occasion in a press release.

“Today is a historic day. Nine months ago voters overwhelmingly said yes to bringing non-medical marijuana to our state and now we are seeing that come to fruition,” OHCANN spokesperson Tom Haren said in the statement. “This is only the beginning. We are proud of the work that has been put in by the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) and our members to get us here and will continue to work together to make this program the gold standard in the country.”

McCullough said Backroad was lucky to have a team working on the paperwork necessary to receive the COO and that it was interesting to observe the process as a small business.

“You have that anxiety of asking what we are going to do when you hear several dates throughout the year, but I think we’re doing pretty good because we are way ahead of schedule,” she said. “I know a lot of people wanted it done in December, but all of the rules needed to be written. There was a lot of stuff happening in the background to make sure it could be done quickly and efficiently.”

McCullough cautioned customers not to expect prices similar to Michigan’s and to know that the business is cash-only. She also said its menu is available online, and Backroad Wellness would try its best to move whatever line formed along quickly.

OHCANN added that dispensaries are only allowed to operate under the medical guidelines temporarily until full adult-use rules are in effect in the fall.

Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.