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Posted
August 09, 2024

Recreational cannabis sales for adults begin in Ohio

Customers lined up at dispensaries across Ohio on Tuesday for the first day of recreational cannabis sales in the state (Source: “Customers line up on Ohio's first day of recreational marijuana sales,” Associated Press Aug. 6).

Nearly 100 medical cannabis dispensaries were authorized to begin selling recreational cannabis to adults after receiving operating certificates this week from the state’s Division of Cannabis Control.
 
Ohio voters last November approved allowing people over 21 to purchase, possess and grow limited amounts of cannabis for personal use. But recreational sales were delayed while the state set up a regulated system for purchases and worked out other rules.
 
The new law allows adults to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces (70 grams) of cannabis and to grow up to six plants per individual or 12 plants per household at home. Legal purchases are subject to a 10% tax, with the revenue divided between administrative costs, addiction treatment, municipalities with dispensaries, and paying for social equity and jobs programs supporting the cannabis industry itself.
 
Earlier this year, HPIO published “Policy Considerations: Cannabis Regulation in Ohio” to provide a brief data overview of current cannabis use in Ohio and policy considerations taken from lessons learned from the successes and failures of tobacco and alcohol control policy.