ANN ARBOR, Michigan - The line outside Exclusive Brands – a medical and recreational marijuana store, grower and processor in a business park on the south end of town – wrapped around the side of the building and down the block, with customers waiting around three hours Friday afternoon and 3 ½ hours on Saturday.

Many were from Ohio.

“There’s quality control,” said a Cincinnati man in his 50s who bought flower and edibles for personal use. “That’s the difference: When you’re going to a friend to purchase marijuana or edibles, you don’t know the THC” level.

Michigan’s new recreational program, which started Dec. 1, could represent a cultural shift for Ohioans in search of marijuana.

Ohioans who traveled north for marijuana last weekend generally fell into one of three groups: Some were there for the novelty of purchasing cannabis in a state-sanctioned store -- although it’s against federal and Ohio law to transport cannabis across state lines. Others were regular marijuana users with plans to return to Michigan often.

A third group of Ohioans plans to bypass the Buckeye State’s medical marijuana program due to perceived inconveniences and burdensome regulations. They can purchase in Michigan either recreationally or medicinally, since Michigan stores can honor Ohio medical e-cards.

But Ohio marijuana regulators caution that this too is against the law.

“I think Ohio is missing the boat,” the Cincinnati man said. “They could literally make a lot of money from (recreational) marijuana.”

Making green

Marijuana flower being weighed as it's put into packaging at Exclusive Brands in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Friday. (Laura Hancock/cleveland.com)

Michigan imposes a 10% excise tax on recreational sales, which will go to schools, roads and the cities and counties where the stores are located, said David Harns, a spokesman for the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency.

Additionally, in the first two years, some tax receipts will be set aside for medical research on the drug.

On top of that is the state sales tax of 6%.

In the first week, the handful of stores with licenses had over $1.6 million in sales.

Michigan regulators are not allowed to track purchasers’ state of residence, so it’s unclear how much of that was cash from Ohio.

For comparison, Ohio’s medical dispensaries have been making a little over $1 million on average a week during the first 46 weeks they’ve been open, according to state figures. About 45 dispensaries are now open in Ohio.

Trickle-down effects

Customers form a line outside the building waiting to purchase recreational marijuana at Arbors Wellness in downtown Ann Arbor. (Nicole Hester | MLive)Nicole Hester/Mlive.com

Ohio marijuana customers didn’t all drive to Michigan, purchase pot and immediately head back south. Many made Ann Arbor part of a day trip.

They bought lunch and purchased coffee. They shopped at the boutiques in downtown Ann Arbor. Some bought gas.

One Cleveland man who said he uses marijuana about five times a year said he drove to Ann Arbor for marijuana. But he also purchased goodies at a local cafe, Zingerman’s Deli.

“Family members wanted gifts,” he said.

From marijuana retailers or from Zingerman’s?

“From both," he said.

“I feel bad for coming up here when I could easily get it at home,” said a Columbus man in his 20s, who suffers from chronic pain and said he could qualify for an e-card in Ohio’s medical program.

But he hasn’t become a registered Ohio medical marijuana patient -- a process that would require visiting an Ohio physician with a certificate to recommend medical marijuana, getting a recommendation for the drug, filling out paperwork and paying the state for the e-card.

Ohio created too much red tape, he said: “Just make it available.”

Instead, he and his girlfriend, a woman also in her 20s who lives an hour away in Toledo, plan to regularly visit Ann Arbor and probably Lansing, where he said he has family.

She suffers from depression and anxiety -- which are not qualifying conditions in Ohio’s medical program. But she can purchase marijuana recreationally in Michigan.

“They’re going to get out-of-state money, but also it’s almost like a tourist attraction,” she said. “Ann Arbor is a cool town.”

Michigan medical v. recreational

Narmin Jarrous of Exclusive Brands shows marijuana flower, which customers can smell before purchasing. (Laura Hancock/cleveland.com)

The product sold in medical dispensaries -- which in Michigan are called “provisioning centers” -- can contain more THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, than recreational product.

For instance, at Exclusive Brands, a container of edibles sold from the medical side of the business contains 200 milligrams of THC. On the recreational side of the store -- called marijuana retailers in Michigan -- that same container of edibles would have 100 milligrams.

In edibles, higher levels of THC are allowed per serving, said Harns, the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency spokesman.

“You don’t have to eat a whole chocolate chip cookie," he said.

Medical patients don’t have to pay excise taxes that are imposed on recreational products, which can save patients some cash.

Recreational customers must be age 21.

The recreational program, approved by voters in 2018, allows an adult to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for recreational usage; up to 15 grams of marijuana may be marijuana concentrate.

At Exclusive Brands, General Manager Nick Warra estimated that Ohio customers made up 15% to 20% of its recreational business in the first 10 days of sales.

In fact, on the first day of recreational sales, an Ohioan was the retailer’s first customer: a Columbus resident who camped overnight with his girlfriend, said Narmin Jarrous, the company’s executive vice president of business development and director of social equity.

Exclusive Brands has been open to medical patients since 2018 and about a fourth of its business comes from Ohio, Warra said.

The Michigan effect?

A sign on the door for GreenStone Provisions, where recreational marijuana is sold in downtown Ann Arbor, says "No Flower, edibles, concentrates." Some stores have had trouble keeping a full stock in the early days of Michigan's recreational marijuana program. (Laura Hancock/cleveland.com)

Ohio’s medical marijuana program isn’t even fully built out yet: Only 45 of the 57 dispensaries have received certificates of operation.

Will hype over Michigan’s recreational program slow Ohio’s still-nascent medical program? It’s still too soon to tell.

But Thomas Rosenberger, associate director of the Ohio Medical Cannabis Cultivators Association, isn’t too worried.

He notes there aren’t many recreational retailers, and prices remain high -- it exceeded $300 an ounce with taxes on the first day for many buyers.

Stores have run out of product, he said.

“They don’t have enough licensed growers yet," he said. “There’s fears that there’s not going to be enough marijuana in Michigan, even for patients. You’re going to have a huge undersupply. That’s going to push those prices even farther up.”

The drive to Michigan may get old, especially if product costs a lot.

In Ohio’s medical program, prices continue to drop. For plant product in November, prices averaged $33 for a tenth-of-an-ounce, down from $48 when the dispensaries opened in mid-January, according to state data.

A Bowling Green State University student said Friday evening he spent more than $25 for vaping cartridges.

“It’s expensive," he said.

However, it’s safer than getting illicit THC vaping cartridges, which have been making people sick, he said.

And the price may not be an issue if someone wants high-quality weed that has been tested for pesticides and other chemicals.

A man and woman from Cleveland were in Michigan Saturday, attending a family member’s graduation from Eastern Michigan University.

“Once we heard on December 1st it was recreational, it became a two-part plan,” the woman said.

“Tell (Ohio Gov. Mike) DeWine he’s got to get with the program,” the man said. “Or we will drive 3 1/2 hours and wait for 3 1/2 hours up here.”

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