MASON, Ohio — It's simple: place your order, choose either free shipping or pay a little extra for next-hour delivery, verify you're 21 or older and grab your package.
You just got yourself some weed, legally, and you didn't have to leave your doorstep.
"I'm getting my part, I'm getting paid and our customers are getting their product," Alex Stanley said.
Stanley launched his company Cinci 420 with his business partner and has been delivering cannabis products around Cincinnati ever since. Without a brick and mortar, they didn't want to rely solely on online shipments to make a profit, Stanley said.
"I think doing the deliveries — people feel safer cause you have to pay online before you can get the product so it's 100% safe for the driver, you know. Everyone's getting what they want," he said.
Stanley sells a variety of THCa products including concentrates, flower, pre-rolls and vapes. Because THCa is a non-intoxicating chemical present in cannabis and on its own cannot produce a high, it can be legally sold in Ohio.
If you heat it up, however, it becomes THC, which is psychoactive and produces hallucinogenic effects.
"We want to make sure that we're doing everything in that way that's OK and we're keeping our employees out of trouble and keeping ourselves out of trouble," Stanley said. "We just hope that everyone has good intent behind their actions. We're responsible for supplying THCa so we're just hoping people are responsible when they're buying it and using it."
Stanley ultimately hopes to grow his business and offer recreational marijuana, but just like the rest of Ohio, he's stuck in legal limbo.
When Issue 2 passed last fall, it technically legalized recreational marijuana in the state. It allows adults 21 and older to smoke as well as grow plants at home. Despite this, there still is no system in place for Ohioans to legally buy recreational marijuana because the Division of Cannabis Control isn’t set to start processing retailer applications until June.
Even then, Issue 2 allows local cities and townships to prohibit recreational marijuana dispensaries from operating. In December, several Greater Cincinnati municipalities enacted their own bans.
Fairfield, Liberty Township and West Chester all enacted moratoriums. Hamilton did as well, though the city's temporary ban is the first set to expire on June 12.
"With the new laws coming we'll see if we can continue to grow and take a storefront downtown," Stanley said.
Until then, Stanley said he'll continue to sell and deliver THCa products, with the goal of adding gummies soon.
Recent sales might expedite that goal. Stanley posted signs advertising his delivery option at intersections in and around Cincinnati last month, and he said orders have hit new highs.
"Before we were averaging 5 or 10 sales," said Stanley. "Now we average anywhere from 10 to 30 a day."
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