Adult recreational marijuana sales started in Ohio today, including in Marietta.

Columbia Care, which is owned by The Cannabist Company and is located at 414 Greene St., started recreational marijuana sales today at 8 a.m.

The Ohio Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) issued its first set of dual-use certificates of operation to 98 dispensaries Tuesday, according to a DCC release and The Cannabist Company announced Aug. 2 that it had been approved for adult recreational marijuana licenses at all five of its Ohio dispensaries, including the Marietta dispensary.

The DCC issuing the licenses comes more than a month in advance of the deadline set in law, Sept. 7, and is for dispensaries with existing medical use licenses already having met stringent program requirements and already having undergone many comprehensive checks, the DCC release said.

The dispensary will manage the different types of customers by having two lines, one for medical marijuana patients and one for adult recreational use customers, according to The Cannabist Company Vice President of Retail Operations Erick Rodriguez.

“We are also going to prioritize our medical customers,” he said.

Anyone over the age of 21, as long as they have a government issued ID, will be able to come into the dispensary to purchase adult recreational marijuana, regardless of what state they are from, according to The Cannabist Company Midwest District Manager Keri Stan.

She said no one will be allowed in the building without a government issued ID showing they are 21.

Stan said adult recreational marijuana customers will have access to the same products that medical marijuana users in Ohio have, including flowers, cartridges, oils, tinctures, edibles and topicals.

She said there will be a lot of staff on hand to answer customers’ questions to make sure people are making educated decisions.

According to Stan, adult recreational marijuana customers will be able to purchase a 10-day supply at a time.

The DCC website explains people can purchase “10 whole day units” of cannabis combined across all forms.

“For example, a non-medical consumer may purchase 1.0 ounces of plant material for vaporization or 10 units of oil for vaporization containing 590 mg of THC or 10 packages of edibles totaling not more than 1,100 mg of THC total,” the DCC website said.

The response to adult recreational marijuana sales starting up has been mostly positive, according to Stan.

‘”I think for the most part the majority I’ve heard when I’ve been visiting stores has been positive,” she said.

For people that have a negative view of sales starting, Rodriguez said they have nothing to worry about.

“There’s a lot of benefits to cannabis and we’re excited to help our community in any and all ways possible,” he said.

According to Rodriguez and Stan, adult recreational marijuana sales will have a positive economic impact on Marietta.

Rodriguez said they hired five additional staff members and hope to do well enough to add another five.

Stan said jobs at the Marietta dispensary start at $16 an hour. She also said that adult recreational marijuan customers will pay a 10% excise tax on what they buy, 36% of which goes straight to the jurisdiction in which a dispensary is located, and there will be local sales tax too.

“It’s great for the revenue stream for the city,” she said.

“We’re hoping to provide a lot of additional income to the cities and municipalities we’re in,” Rodriguez said.

Rodiguez does not anticipate any issues associated with law enforcement with the start of recreational sales because there are no issues with their medical customers.

“Our patients and our customers need to be responsible and follow the law,” he said.

According to Rodriguez, Marietta Police Department will be providing support today with road management and everybody getting to the dispensary safely due to it being located at a busy intersection.

He said the law enforcement agencies where The Cannabist Company dispensaries are located all do a great job.

Williamstown Police Chief Shawn Graham does not believe the start of recreational marijuana sales in Ohio will change much of what his department does.

He said the Williamstown Police Department doesn’t focus on marijuana possession but if they run into it on a traffic stop they would “charge people for having something that’s illegal in West Virginia.”

Graham expects that the department might run into more marijuana possession at traffic stops now that recreational sales have started in Ohio.

“The biggest concern we have is people driving with it if they’re under the influence,” he said.

He said marijuana possession in West Virginia is illegal regardless of what state someone is from and possession at the normal user amounts is a minor misdemeanor.

“Even though you can buy it legally five minutes away, it doesn’t change the law once you cross the bridge,” Graham said.

Requests for comment from the Marietta Police Department, the Parkersburg Police Department, Marietta Ward 1 Councilman and Finance Committee Chair Michael Scales, Ward 2 Councilman and Planning Zoning Annexation and Housing Committee Chair Bret Allphin and Marietta Mayor Joshua Schlicher were not returned as of press time.