A national cannabis company forecasts Ohio will become a $2 billion market by 2027, provided legislators do not change current marijuana laws.
LeafLink, a wholesale cannabis platform that connects distributors and retailers, identified Ohio as one of six expanding markets, projecting $2 billion in sales within the next two years. The company highlighted Ohio’s rapid growth in 2024, with monthly sales doubling following the commencement of recreational sales.
According to LeafLink, the opening of new dispensaries in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, and Minnesota will drive national market growth over the next few years. By the end of 2027, these six states are expected to account for 75% of cannabis sales growth in the U.S.
LeafLink noted that neighboring Michigan is the largest cannabis market in the country, with retail sales reaching $327 per resident. In Ohio, retail sales average $58 per resident, equating to every Ohioan purchasing $58 worth of marijuana.
The company predicts that Ohio’s dispensaries and cultivators will expand in the next two years. Currently, Ohio averages $5.2 million in sales at each of its 134 licensed dispensaries, according to LeafLink.
However, some Ohio lawmakers are working to slow the state’s growth. Competing bills in the House and Senate aim to adjust recreational marijuana laws by altering tax revenue distributions, imposing restrictions on where residents can smoke, and decreasing the legal THC level. Both bills propose capping the number of active dispensaries in the state at 350.
Under Ohio’s current cannabis laws, LeafLink anticipates that around 350 new retailers and 40 new growers or processors will enter the market by 2027. The company suggests that if existing licensed dispensaries each receive permission to open one new storefront, cultivators would also gain increased access, tripling retail access for Ohioans.
LeafLink projects that between the six key states identified, the U.S. will see 5,000 new dispensary locations.
