How does Ohio have stock for the new cannabis stores that just opened?
They just passed the law and somehow they already have weed in stock?
They just passed the law and somehow they already have weed in stock?
The law doesn’t go into effect overnight. Laws go into effect months out, so businesses have tons of times to plan. Also, it’s not hard when there’s already a legal distribution network. It’s not the the stores are growing the stuff out in their backyard
Edit: Ohio voted to legalize in November 2023
Are you saying they started growing preemptively before it was officially legal to be ready for the day it becomes legal?
Does Ohio not have medical marijuana for sale? Typically these stores just switch to retail + medical or open a second branch to keep them separate depending on how the state laws are written.
And they could also import from neighboring states while their in house stuff grows depending on the laws.
Well, federal law prevents it period. It's only an executive policy of making that avenue of enforcement a lower priority that keeps it from being a "thing".
Under presidents who have had more of an interest in curtailing it, it's been upheld that regardless of state law the federal prohibition takes precedence.
So if the feds wanted to mess with it, they wouldn't be waiting for it to cross state lines, they'd just enforce the law as written.
Not sure about Ohio, but I believe they often don't let medical marijuana and recreational switch due to requirements that boil down to a need to limit and document the number of medical plants cultivated.
It's not explicitly forbidden, just not able to be transferred in that way between inventory systems due to regulatory requirements.
Kinda like how hand sanitizer is just vodka with a gelling agent in it, but during the hand sanitizer shortage there needed to be emergency orders to let distilleries make hand sanitizer. Same substance, same or higher standards, but different licensing and regulatory frameworks and different licensing and regulatory agencies.
In a few years once the various agencies have gotten in the swing of things they'll probably make some updates to simplify the laws.
Until then, you'll probably see occasional supply issues with recreational while there's plenty of medical.
There are many places where it’s already legal to grow. But yes, some states allow that. Not sure exactly whether allowed growing or if they just imported it. Takes a while to build a business relationship with a grower but not like forever.
They can’t import because that would involve transporting the product over state lines, which is interstate commerce, and in federal jurisdiction, where it’s still illegal. (At least, they can’t import legally, or document any importation.)
They probably .. uh.. fax or teleport? seeds to new grow operations that get set up between the law’s passage and implementation. I hear that stuff grows fast – like a weed!
I don’t know specifically for that state but in many states legal and medicinal weed has been overtaken by a few companies that are quickly buying each other up and rapidly expanding into other states as quickly as they can. in true American fashion the minute weed is legalized nationally we will essentially have the groundwork laid for giant weed conglomerates, the weed equivalent of walmart. keeping prices as high as possible, lowering product quality, and making the experience worse overall. I wouldn’t be surprised if they either were ready to expand into your state directly or had subsidiaries that would, probably lobbied hard to do so long before the law passed
when I was on the west coast a while back legal weed was cheap as fuck and great. dispensaries were all over and randomly named. I’m sure there was intense rivalries and people pushing to consolidate but you could get stuff dirt cheap that was great. nothing like what I’m seeing here on the east coast with companies like curaleaf, truelieve, etc that charge $40-60 for a gram for shit that’s just okay. I quit smoking a few years ago though, maybe it’s better now, but I doubt it
If the law was coming into effect at a known date, there may just not be much interest in prosecuting going forward.
I don’t want to alarm you, but there was also a lot of weed there before it was legal.
And it all met state regulation standards overnight? Of course not! There's plenty more to the answer.
Holy shit. I just looked up a place thats closer than where I usually go, but those prices are higher than Snoop on his way home from Paris!
That's how it always goes but after a year or two the prices hit rock bottom once the market is flooded as long as there aren't weird restrictions on licensing.
Is that why I can find some brands in Colorado and not in Michigan? Or are there just really that many brands?
Im not sure, but based on what I've seen, I think different states each have their own brands. They are probably all owned by the same parent companies though.
A dispensary near me just got in 200mg edibles for $3. Both me and the attendant were sort of suspicious of it (new brand, new product), and I stuck with my usual brands, which vary between $12 and $20 for the same quantity.
But 2 years ago, my ‘usual’ was $18-$25 for 100mg.
They’re definitely racing to the bottom, and we’ve already had a few local grow ops go under as bigger outfits are taking advantage of economy of scale/better planning.
Give it time for the novelty to wear off, then hope the state can navigate the impending rebound without too much consolidation.
The answer is a lot more straightforward than most of your responses here:
Medical marijuana was already legal in Ohio, so it was already around -- those growers/distributors/shops simply ramped up their operations to get ready for the wider market.
It's not uncommon to seek exemption paperwork.
Businesses have a lot of flexibility that's not afforded to your standard private citizen typically.
From the State Medical Board of Ohio:
On September 8, 2016, House Bill 523, legalized medical marijuana in Ohio.
From a June 2024 AP article:
Recreational pot sales are nearing reality in Ohio ... The state Division of Cannabis Control began accepting applications [on 7 June] for new dual licenses that will allow existing medical marijuana dispensaries to also sell nonmedical cannabis.
While states with medical cannabis generally issue regulations for which patients are eligible and which doctors can prescribe, the products themselves are mostly subject to meeting lab tests for containing what they say on the label, and distribution in child-resistant packaging. Otherwise, the same stock for medical cannabis customers is about the same as for recreational cannabis.
Hence, while it might be surprising that a new cannabis dispensary could appear out of nowhere -- even without a preceding medical cannabis dispensary at the same location -- the wholesaling, backend infrastructure, and vendor network may already have existed, so propping up a storefront would be the relatively easy part.
Illegal grows that are now legal.
The medical marijuana growers that can now sell to everyone.
The fact that the law was passed months ago, and only went into effect recently.
I'm actually surprised Ohio made it this far without their legislature pulling a fast one and bullshitting their way out of it somehow.
Lots of national businesses have headquarters in Ohio. Even where weed isn't legal it's like every other business "can't find employees" because they refuse to drop thc from their drug tests so now they're on the brink of collapse. I'm glad but surprised whatever lobbying efforts were probably made weren't enough.
Oh they fucking tried a LOT. The public at large, and a lot of the lobbying groups, kept up the pressure really well to get this through.
There is at least one longtime Ohio business that's very pro-cannabis. The CEO of Scott's Miracle-Gro has been outspoken about it for years. Of course it's profitable -- they will gladly sell you fertilizer and accessories!
I'm not sure if this applies to the cannabis industry. For pharma companies readying to place a generic on the market, they'll usually formulate their product by reverse-engineering the brand months before the patent expires and then run to the FDA office the day before and even camp overnight to be the first ones in for the permit. Then the patent expires the next morning, they get all their paperwork straight, and magically have stock for the shelves instantly. Maybe something like that happens in other industries. Either way, it's interesting how business is done in these gray areas.