Out-of-state buyers flooding Cincinnati's newly opened cannabis shops, shopkeepers say (2024)

Greater Cincinnati marijuana dispensaries say a hefty chunk of their earliest recreational customers are coming from out of state ‒ with some estimates reaching between 40 and 50%.

Recreational marijuana went on sale legally for the first time in Ohio on Tuesday, and while Ohio officials won't track out-of-state customers, individual dispensaries are required to check state IDs of every customer. Workers contacted by The Enquirer say that while most customers hail from Ohio, residents from Kentucky and Indiana aren't far behind.

"Some places thought it was about 50/50, or at least 40%" of out-of-state customers, said Jason Littman, co-founder of Brown County-based Hundred Percent Labs, a licensed processor that creates products like gummies and vape cartridges for Ohio dispensaries. Littman said he's visited several of the stores he supplies this week and has heard stories of people coming from neighboring states and beyond.

"Obviously, there's Kentucky. I heard Indiana," Littman said. Other states included Tennessee, Alabama, Texas and Minnesota – though he suspects people hailing from the farthest states just happened to be in the area anyway.

This jibes with details provided to The Enquirer by Nectar, a Westwood dispensary. Nectar made about 400 sales on Tuesday alone, according to Justin Mack, zone manager for their Ohio stores. Of those Tuesday sales in Westwood, 40% of buyers were from out of state, Mack said, and most of those were from Kentucky and Indiana.

This doesn't surprise Melissa Merse, a Cincinnati resident who serves as regional manager of the cannabis company PharmaCann. Merse oversees three Verilife retail shops in Ohio, including one in Cincinnati.

Her shops, among the 116 now approved to sell both medical and recreational cannabis statewide, previously sold only medical. She and other dispensary runners said that people from out of state regularly swung by the shops to try to glean when Ohio would OK the recreational sales after voters gave their approval in November 2023.

James Crawford, spokesman with the Ohio Department of Commerce's Division of Cannabis Control, said the division won't maintain a database to determine buyers' residency because it doesn't have the technology to do so.

"Moreover, the initiated statute passed by Ohio voters last November does not include any requirement to determine residency of non-medical customers," Crawford said in an email.

Illegal to take marijuana products across state lines

To be clear: It's illegal for out-of-staters to take recreational cannabis they buy in Ohio across state lines, no matter what the legal status is of marijuana in the buyer's destination state.

In Kentucky, medical marijuana is legal, but recreational isn't. In Indiana, it's illegal to sell, possess or cultivate marijuana for either medical or recreational use. Some counties in Indiana have decriminalized marijuana, but police have been warning residents it's still illegal overall.

"Keep in mind the Indiana State law has not changed," Sgt. John Perrine with Indiana State Police told Fox59 this week. "Regardless of what county you’re in, the Indiana State Police will follow that state law and will enforce it as such."

Dispensaries contacted Thursday by The Enquirer acknowledged that legalities aside, some out-of-staters surely will cross state lines to buy product to illegally transport back to their home states. That's a concern in Michigan already, where cannabis shops have proliferated in cities bordering the state line.

Prices lower in Michigan, but problems are surfacing

Michigan legalized recreational cannabis in 2018. Since then, it's been considered a cannabis tourist destination. Metro Detroit dispensaries drew plenty of customers from Ohio before Tuesday's first sales.

And some might still travel that way because Michigan's prices are lower than Ohio's, though there's been some controversy surrounding that.

Dispensaries in Ohio are hoping they'll draw customers away from Michigan by offering better quality product, even if the prices here are higher.

"I have a feeling it's going to become a booming industry that has a sustainable and large impact on our economy in a positive way," Mack said. "I'm just really excited to be a part of this movement that's helping not only the economy, but med patients as well as the community overall."

Could Cincinnati become a cannabis destination?

Courtney Pavlak, regional operations manager for Uplift Milford, said sales have been strong all week, with the highlight being Tuesday, with 789. On a typical day before legal recreational marijuana, the location was likely to make around 250 sales of medical cannabis.

About 30% of sales in these first days have been to out-of-state customers mainly from Kentucky. She expects Cincinnati could become a Detroit-like cannabis tourist destination.

"Cincinnati already has so much to offer. This will definitely add to that potential," she said.

Littman agreed, but added that those who buy here should consume it here, too.

"It's a great location for people to come travel, pick up cannabis, enjoy the city and enjoy the products before they head back," he said.