COLUMBUS – Dozens of medical cannabis dispensaries in Ohio began selling recreational marijuana products Tuesday, ushering in a new era for the state and another potential billion-dollar market in the Midwest.

Earlier in the day, 98 stores were given the final green light to sell marijuana for recreational purposes after the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Cannabis Control issued dual-use operating licenses to these businesses.

Most of those retailers, including Akron-based Klutch Cannabis, began selling recreational products Tuesday morning, while other licensees are expected to begin selling recreational products by the end of the week, industry sources said. MJBizDaily.

“It’s a very special feeling for us because this is our backyard. This is our neighborhood,” said Pete Nischt, vice president of compliance and communications at Klutch Cannabis, a vertically integrated company with The Citizen stores in Canton and Lorain.

Market observation

Other retailers in the expanded restricted license market include several multi-state operators, including Ayr Wellness and Verano Holdings Corp., as well as some locally based operators such as Klutch and Queen City Cannabis.

The frontrunners will compete in a market whose sales are expected to exceed the $1 billion mark in 2025 and reach $1.5 to $2 billion by the end of 2027, according to updated MJBizDaily Forecasts.

Ohio will be the 24th U.S. market to begin adult-use sales, following Maryland’s launch in July 2023 and Missouri’s launch in February 2023.

And like Maryland and Missouri, Ohio’s recreational market began without a social justice program.

The nearly year-long gap between recreational product launches is considered the longest drought in the marijuana industry since the first wave of consumer access more than a decade ago.

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