Ohio's recreational marijuana industry is gaining momentum, with sales reaching $76.3 million as of the end of September. When recreational cannabis shops officially opened their doors this past Aug. 6, sales zoomed to over $22.5 million in the first 12 days with medical marijuana contributing an additional $16 million.

In under two months, Ohio's legal weed market has moved over 8,813 pounds of plant materials and 1.2 million units of manufactured products through the state's 124 dual-use dispensaries that cater to both medical and recreational customers.

Neighboring Michigan: A Well-Established Competitor

Though Ohio's market is moving right along after last November's legalization vote, Michigan's industry is chugging ahead even faster. Recreational marijuana sales, which began there in 2019 have continued to rise despite Ohio's legalization. In August, for example, Michigan's total cannabis sales hit a record-breaking $295.4 million essentially indicating that weed vendors are retaining customers despite new competition from Ohio.

Why? "Frankly, it is still worth it for me to drive to Michigan to buy cannabis," one Ohioan from a Cleveland suburb told Benzinga. "Marijuana prices here [in Ohio] are still much higher than in Michigan. So it’s cheaper even after I pay for gas to drive both ways. "

Zach Gergich, a representative from Nectar, a dispensary in the college town of Bowling Green, Ohio, expressed optimism about Ohio's potential.

"We're five-to-10 times busier here depending on the day," Gergich told 23ABC. "We've been crushing it up here."

Sales numbers, however, show that Ohio weed shops are not exactly crushing their competitors on the other side of the state line.

Read Also: Ohio’s Cannabis Sales Reach $44M As New Customers Just Keep Coming And Demand Is Not Slowing

Plenty Of Weed Money To Go Around In Both States

While Ohio's fledgling market is showing promise, Michigan's resilience suggests it won't be easy for the Buckeye State to overtake its northern neighbor anytime soon. Although for now, both states seem to have plenty of demand to meet.

"I think it's only going to get more competitive. We'll see, you know, more licenses pop up for growers and processors and stuff like that," Gergich said. "So obviously more there, more of them, you know, prices should start we hopefully should see them fall a little bit and kind of get more competitive in that range."

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