UPDATE: Applications for recreational marijuana businesses are out. Now the clock starts ticking.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio is estimated to have 254 dispensaries by mid-2025, according to new equity research by a marijuana financial analyst, putting it in the middle of the density pack among states where recreational marijuana is sold.
Pablo Zuniac of Zuniac and Associates looked at the potential growth for recreational marijuana in the state, as it is on the verge of expanding from medical cannabis.
Within the next day, the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control is expected to post online applications for existing medical dispensaries to become dual-use licensees, serving medical and recreational customers. It is also expected to post applications for a separate category of recreational dispensaries that will exclusively be awarded to existing medical cultivators and dispensaries on sites that are separate from their current locations – a gift the industry, which wrote the law and paid for the recreational marijuana campaign, gave to itself.
The applications need to be posted by Friday, according to the state law legalizing recreational that voters approved last November.
The 254 dispensaries Zuniac estimates Ohio will have by the middle of next year would be 22 dispensaries for every 1 million people in the state. That sandwiches Ohio somewhere near the middle of the list of states where recreational marijuana is sold, based on the density of available storefronts.
It’s more recreational dispensaries than Connecticut, which has nine per 1 million people; Illinois and New Jersey, each with 13 per 1 million; Maryland, with 17; and Arizona with 21.
But Ohio’s 22 per 1 million store density is lower than other states: California, with 32 stores per 1 million people; Missouri, with 33; Washington, with 57; Massachusetts, with 68; Michigan, with 97; and Colorado and Oregon, each with 190.
Zuniac arrived at 254 dispensaries because each existing medical dispensary gets to apply for a dual-use dispensary to serve recreational marijuana to adults aged 21 and older. The state must award a dual-use license to each applicant unless there are issues with their paperwork. At the time Zuniac was researching the report, there were 124 medical dispensaries that had been cleared to open to patients. Now there are 126.
In addition to 126 dual-use dispensaries, Zuniac estimates another 80 recreational dispensaries will open in mid-2025 under the legal category under which the industry gifted itself several licenses.
Additionally, the Division of Cannabis Control must award 50 licenses to applicants under a social equity program that’s currently being written by the Ohio Department of Development. The social equity licensees will be from communities historically hurt by the war on drugs, women, ethnic minorities, disabled Ohioans, among other people. Officials are expected to unveil that program later this summer.
Zuniac’s report has modelling showing that recreational sales in Ohio will begin July 1.
There have been numerous dates thrown out for when sales will start, including early-to-mid-June. The Division of Cannabis Control is only committing to one date: Sept. 7, when the law states it has to approve or deny applications. The law requires the first round of applications to be approved unless there is an issue with the paperwork.
The report looked at publicly traded multi-state operators, marijuana companies with a presence in many states that trade stock usually on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
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Twelve publicly traded multi-state operators work in Ohio. Many have licenses to grow and process and sell marijuana. The following are their dispensaries:
- Acreage, based in New York, with five Ohio dispensaries called The Botanist, including in Cleveland, Akron and Wickliffe in Northeast Ohio;
- Ascend Wellness, based in New York, with five Ohio dispensaries;
-Ayr Wellness, based in Miami, with three Ohio dispensaries, including one in Woodmere;
- The Cannabist Co., headquartered in New York, with five locations called Columbia Care or Green Leaf Ohio, with a Green Leaf dispensary located in Warren;
-Chicago-based Cresco Labs, with five dispensaries in Ohio called Sunnyside;
-Curaleaf, based in New York, with two dispensaries, including one in Cuyahoga Falls;
-Green Thumb, based in Chicago, with five Ohio dispensaries, including in Lorain, two in Lakewood, and one in Cleveland.
-Jushi, based in Boca Raton, Florida, with one Beyond Hello dispensary in Ohio;
-MariMed in Norton, Massachusetts, with one ThriveWellness dispensary in Ohio
- Trulieve in Quincy, Florida, which at the time the report was written had one dispensary, but through an acquisition of Harvest Ohio now has three;
-Chicago-based Verano, which has five Zen Leaf stores in OHio;
-Vext Science, based in Vancouver, Canada, with four Ohio stores.
Ohio’s publicly traded multi-state operators account for 34% of all stores and will have 80% of the projected 254 stores by next year, Zuniac’s report said.
Laura Hanco*ck covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.
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