Ohio recreational marijuana sales show no signs of slowing down

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Its been almost a month since Ohio dispensaries got the green light to start selling recreational marijuana, and sales have been booming for two local dispensaries. 

Both Locals Cannabis and Trulieve have locations in Columbus. Both dispensaries said the novelty of purchasing recreational marijuana is not wearing off just yet. Locals Cannabis owner, Mandy Morton, said they are still consistently busy from open to close each day.

"We've had at least six times the amount of people that we had before when we were just medical," Morton said. "So the non-medical crowd has definitely come in in full force."

And Morton said customers are showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. 

"We'll compare this Wednesday to last Wednesday and see: is the trend continuing or are we starting to see a decrease in customers?" Morton said. "We haven't seen that yet." 

Trulieve Director of State Operations Nick Rassler said they are also seeing an influx of customers eager to exercise their right to purchase, after exercising their right to vote a little while back.

"We're still seeing roughly the same volume of people of people each week that we saw the first launch week," Rassler said. 

Both dispensaries said people are becoming more familiar with how recreational marijuana sales work. 

"I think that that'll continue to grow. There are some people who might purchase for one month and then might not come back for two or three months. They bought what they need and they're kind of just working their way through," Rassler said. "Others will come back once a week or more."

"They are better at coming in and knowing what they want," Morton said. "The first couple weeks we had a longer consultation process with new customers talking them through what to expect in dispensary sales and what products we have available."

The Ohio Division of Cannabis Control tracks non-medical cannabis sales in the state on a weekly basis. As of Saturday, the Buckeye state had over $44 million in recreational marijuana sales. 

This increase in sales has increased concern for some lawmakers when it comes to Ohio's roadways. A pending bill could allow law enforcement to conduct oral fluid tests on suspected impaired drivers. Either way, officer Robert Barrett with the Columbus Division of Police said impaired driving is impaired driving no matter the substance. 

"We've done chemical testing for blood and urine for decades so we can determine if somebody is under the influence just by those two chemical tests," Barrett said. "Adding an additional test is only going to help us to narrow down what drugs were involved in their system at that particular time."

Barrett said officers treat individuals the same whether they suspect they're under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He said the increase in recreational marijuana is just a step in the process to give them an idea of what they need to be testing for and when to conduct a chemical test.