Ben Gilbert, 38, smokes marijuana in lower Manhattan outside the first legal dispensary for recreational marijuana in New York on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. 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.
The applications need to be posted by Friday, according to the state law legalizing recreational that voters approved last November. 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.
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.
Twelve publicly traded multi-state operators work in Ohio. Many have licenses to grow and process and sell marijuana. The following are their dispensaries: