Ohio is set to allow recreational cannabis product sales at dispensaries starting next month. Ohio already allows medical cannabis sales at registered dispensaries, with the state’s medical cannabis program currently serving an estimated 167,153 suffering patients.
The state’s 123 licensed medical cannabis dispensaries sold over $54 million worth of medical cannabis products in March 2024 according to new data released by the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control, up from $38.4 million total sales in February 2024. March’s sales figures were also an increase over March 2023 sales totals.
When legal adult-use cannabis sales begin next month in Ohio, they will be subjected to a ten percent excise tax in addition to an existing 5.75 percent sales tax.
According to initial reporting by Marijuana Moment, Ohio recreational sales are anticipated to generate between $276.2 million and $403.6 million in annual cannabis tax dollars within five years.
However, not every jurisdiction in Ohio will permit adult-use cannabis businesses to operate. A recent analysis by researchers at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law found that roughly 2% of local governments in Ohio (as of March 31st, 2024) will continue to prohibit recreational cannabis businesses from operating within their borders once legal adult-use sales launch in Ohio.
“47 Ohio municipalities that have passed moratoriums as of March 31, 2023, represent only a small fraction (roughly 2%) of the 924 incorporated municipalities and 1,307 townships in the state of Ohio.” the researchers stated in their report. The researchers list the following moratorium examples from other legal states for contextual purposes:
- In Michigan 73% of municipalities (1,300 out of 1,773) opted out
- In New York, only about 50% of municipalities (753 out of 1,520) opted out
The United States adult-use cannabis industry has generated over $20 billion in total tax revenue since the first legal recreational cannabis purchase was made in Colorado on January 1st, 2014 according to a new report by the Marijuana Policy Project.
“Through the first quarter of 2024, states have reported a combined total of more than $20 billion in tax revenue from legal, adult-use cannabis sales. In 2023 alone, legalization states generated more than $4 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales, which is the most revenue generated by cannabis sales in a single year.” the Marijuana Policy Project stated in a press release.
Total legal cannabis sales in the United States are expected to reach $31.4 billion in 2024 according to a recent analysis by Whitney Economics. Additionally, leading cannabis jobs platform Vangst, in conjunction with Whitney Economics, estimates that the legal cannabis industry now supports 440,445 full time-equivalent cannabis jobs in the United States.
Whitney Economics also projects the following legal cannabis sales figures in the United States for the coming years:
- 2024: $31.4 billion (9.1% growth from 2023)
- 2025: $35.2 billion (12.1% growth from 2024)
- 2030: $67.2 billion
- 2035: $87.0 billion
The emerging legal cannabis industry in the United States is projected to add roughly $112 billion to the nation’s economy in 2024 according to a newly released analysis by MJBiz Daily. The projection is part of the company’s 2024 MJBiz Factbook.
“The total U.S. economic impact generated by regulated marijuana sales could top $112.4 billion in 2024, about 12% more than last year,” MJBiz stated in its initial reporting.