BALTIMORE — In Maryland, a week and a half of legal, adult-use cannabis is in the books.
For cannabis dispensaries across the state, the first week was lucrative.
According to the state cannabis administration: From Saturday, July 1, to Monday, July 7, adult-use cannabis sales in Maryland totaled nearly $21 million.
Between medical and adult-use, dispensaries made more than $6 million more this July 4th weekend than last.
"A blast, honestly. It's been a surreal experience," said JT Andresky, assistant general manager of the ReLeaf dispensary in Mount Vernon.
Andresky says many are figuring out what the landscape looks like, but it's been mostly positive.
"A lot of people have been waiting a really long time, and said to themselves, 'the day it's legal where I live, then I'll try it.' And that day has finally come for a lot of people," said Andresky.
Things, as Andresky describes thems, are dynamic. With new rules, they can only be open 12 hours a day, and cannot do any business past 10 p.m. Not 10:01 p.m., not 10:02 p.m., 10 p.m. Andresky says that sometimes requires a conversation with their customers.
"We've had people that have been aware of us - to them, our hours were until midnight. But they didn't actually visit here until July 1st. So then they show up, and it's 10 p.m., explaining that jarring change is definitely sometimes a thing to navigate," said Andresky.
Cannabis is still federally illegal, so you cannot buy cannabis with a credit card. You'll have to bring a debit card or cash to your local dispensary.
"Being able to show your ID, just like you would with any other product - they love that," said Andresky.
