photo by: Gage Vota

Keri Stan, director of national retail operations for the Cannabist Company, waits in the lobby for customers to provide proof of a valid license that says they are 21 or older at the first recreational marjiana dispensary in Belmont County.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — History was made on Friday as the Cannabist Company opened its doors to become the first recreational and medical marijuana dispensary in Belmont County.

Located at 51710 National Rd E., the store is open Monday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Sundays.

Keri Stan, Cannabist Company’s director of national retail operations, said that when looking to expand the business into Belmont County, St. Clairsville was her number one choice due to its central location within the county.

“I grew up in Washington County, so I’m familiar with Belmont County. I have family that live in this area,” Stan said. “There was no dispensary in the county, so it made sense to be up here, especially St. Clairsville because it’s about an hour from Wintersville, and about 40 minutes to Cambridge, and those were the only two options here.”

She added that the ability to expand to Belmont County comes after the state of Ohio offered medical marijuana dispensaries the opportunity to apply to receive a 10(B) dispensary license.

The license is issued to medical marijuana dispensaries with a certificate of operation or provisional license, with no common ownership or control with any marijuana cultivator or process, according to Ohiocannabisinformation.org.

She said that the opportunity to apply comes from the Cannabist Company having five medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Ohio prior to recreational marijuana becoming legal in 2023.

Stan added that the company also has a cultivation facility and a processing facility, which means all of the products sold in the store were made in Ohio.

“There’s not any interstate commerce, because it’s federally illegal,” Stan said. “So it’s nice from a jobs perspective, because it has to be done here, and everything is contained within the state.”

She added that the St. Clairsville store employs 19 people locally.

Although marijuana is legal in Ohio, customers are legally only permitted to buy 2.5 ounces per visit.

Stan said that the store offers flower, vape cartridges, tinctures, topicals, sublinguals, and edibles such as gummies, drinks, and chocolate.

“We pretty much have everything that can be produced in Ohio,” Stan said.

In addition to product, the store also sells batteries for cartridges, vape devices for flower concentrates, lighters, rolling papers, and a small selection of smoking pipes.

Stan said that she plans for the store to play an active role in the community.

“We really empower our teams to find a way to be supportive within the community. The community is coming in and supporting us so we want to be good neighbors and good stewards to our community,” she said.

Customers must be 21 or older and provide a valid drivers license when entering the location and prior entering the store section of the building.