Pennsylvania · Operational retail locations
180 count · medical
Period: 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-01 · Operational medical marijuana dispensary sites as of March 1, 2024; not distinct permit holders. [12]
Ohio Cannabis Directory
State comparison · facts checked November 1, 2026
Compare states. Shape your cannabis policy.
Compare legal approaches, examine what happened in other markets, and write to your own lawmakers about the changes you want.
Every fact links to its source and carries the date it was checked. Assessments are the directory’s analysis, labeled as such, with a stated likelihood, confidence level and reasoning. They are reviewed on a schedule and may change as evidence changes.
Propose a change · Laws side by side · Lessons from other markets · Sources
Propose a change in your state
Start with your state, choose an issue, then compare another state's approach. Use the evidence to explain the change you want.
First edition: Ohio and Michigan residents; two business-licensing topics. Oregon is a reference where reviewed. More resident states and policy topics are being researched.
A policy example is not proof of success. Check what changed after implementation, how outcomes were measured, and whether the markets are comparable. Consider market age, medical/adult-use scope, local restrictions, taxes and enforcement before drawing conclusions.
What would count as a useful outcome comparison?
Look for dated regulator reports or research showing consumer costs and access, entry and survival of independent businesses, ownership concentration, patient protections, illicit-market activity and public revenue. Compare periods and definitions consistently. The two licensing topics here describe legal approaches; they do not establish that one approach caused better outcomes.
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Laws side by side
Choose which reviewed states appear in the comparison. Unreviewed topics are marked explicitly.
Research coverage
Source-linked policy topics reviewed per state. Coverage is not a policy score.
Ohio3 of 3 topics
Michigan2 of 3 topics
Oregon1 of 3 topics
Pennsylvania1 of 3 topics
New York3 of 3 topics
Limits on how many businesses can be licensed
Does the state cap the number of cannabis businesses?
Ohio
No more than 400 dispensaries may operate at one time. The Division of Cannabis Control sets the number of cultivator licenses, considering population and the number of patients and adult consumers. One person may hold no more than one cultivator license, one processor license and eight dispensary licenses. New dispensaries may not be licensed or relocated within one mile of another dispensary.
Ohio Revised Code 3796.05 · in effect March 20, 2026 · checked October 21, 2026 [1]
Michigan
No statewide limit on the total number of licenses. The state must approve an application that meets the legal requirements; municipalities may limit establishments locally. Ownership limits apply, such as interests in no more than five growers, though the state may allow exceptions by rule.
MCL 333.27959 (Initiated Law 1 of 2018) · checked October 21, 2026 [5]
Oregon
License numbers are capped per capita by license type under House Bill 4121 (2024). New licenses have been on hold since 2022; a license type reopens only when its active licenses fall below the population ratio. Regulators were discussing a limited reopening in September 2026.
Oregon House Bill 4121 (2024) and Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission rules · checked October 21, 2026 [10][9]
Pennsylvania
Not yet reviewed.
New York
The Cannabis Law sets no statewide cap on the number of adult-use licenses. It limits ownership instead: no one may have an interest in more than three retail dispensary licenses or more than one cultivator license, and cultivators may not hold retail licenses. When deciding applications, regulators consider the number and kind of other licenses nearby and the effect on cannabis production, price and availability.
New York Cannabis Law sections 64(1)(g), 68(4)-(5) and 72(2)-(3) · in effect February 13, 2026 · checked November 1, 2026 [13][14][15]
Limits on growing space
How much can a licensed grower cultivate?
Ohio
Level I cultivators may have up to 100,000 square feet of cultivation area and Level II cultivators up to 15,000 square feet, including any expansions the Division of Cannabis Control approves.
Ohio Revised Code 3796.18 · in effect March 20, 2026 · checked October 21, 2026 [2]
Michigan
Grower licenses are set by plant count: Class A up to 100 plants, Class B up to 500 and Class C up to 2,000. There is no statewide limit on how many grower licenses are issued.
MCL 333.27959(2) · checked October 21, 2026 [5]
Oregon
Not yet reviewed.
Pennsylvania
Not yet reviewed.
New York
Each cultivator is licensed for one canopy tier set by regulation (9 NYCRR 120.3), and no one may hold an interest in more than one cultivator license. In March 2026 the Cannabis Control Board, citing a projected shortfall of 356,000 pounds, told regulators to process canopy-expansion requests after reviewing at least 12 months of cultivation history. The tier sizes are not summarized here.
New York Cannabis Law section 68(5); Cannabis Control Board Resolution 2026-19 · in effect March 5, 2026 · checked November 1, 2026 [14][16]
Growing cannabis at home
May adults or patients grow cannabis at home, and how many plants?
Ohio
Adults 21 and older may grow up to six plants per person and twelve at one residence, subject to secured-area, primary-residence and other conditions in the statute.
Ohio Revised Code 3796.04 · in effect March 20, 2026 · checked October 9, 2026 [18]
Michigan
Not yet reviewed.
Oregon
Not yet reviewed.
Pennsylvania
Home cultivation is not allowed. Only grower/processors permitted by the Department of Health may grow medical marijuana, and Pennsylvania has no adult-use law.
Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act section 304(b)(3) · in effect May 17, 2016 · checked October 28, 2026 [19]
New York
Adults 21 and older may grow up to three mature and three immature plants, with no more than six mature and six immature plants per residence, only at their private residence and secured from anyone under 21. Up to five pounds may be kept at home. Localities may regulate home growing but may not effectively ban it.
New York Penal Law section 222.15; OCM home cultivation FAQ · in effect June 26, 2024 · checked November 1, 2026 [17][20]
Official market observations
Regulator-reported snapshots, not estimates. Compare figures only when metric, market scope and reporting period match. Missing observations are not zero.
Pennsylvania · Operational retail locations
192 count · medical
Period: 2026-03-01 to 2026-03-01 · Operational medical marijuana dispensary locations reported as of March 1, 2026; not the number of distinct permit holders. [11]
Market trends
Pennsylvania: operational retail locations
medical · count · Same metric and reporting type over time; not a causal analysis.
2024-03-01
180
Operational medical marijuana dispensary sites as of March 1, 2024; not distinct permit holders. [12]
2026-03-01
192
Operational medical marijuana dispensary locations reported as of March 1, 2026; not the number of distinct permit holders. [11]
Market lessons: Michigan, with an Ohio assessment
What happened elsewhere, why it happened, and whether Ohio has the same conditions.
Oversupply and falling prices
When licenses and growing capacity expand faster than demand, prices can fall sharply and many businesses close.
What happened in Michigan
- The average price of an ounce of adult-use flower fell from more than $512 in January 2020 to $117 in August 2022, according to state data. [6]
- It kept falling: $95.08 in December 2023, $69.20 in December 2024 and $58.20 in December 2025. [8]
- Plants under cultivation rose from about 400,000 to nearly 1.5 million in the year before October 2022, and reached 3.2 million by June 2025. [6][7]
- Adult-use sales fell in 2025 for the first time since legalization, to $3.17 billion from $3.27 billion in 2024. [8]
- More than 550 dispensaries and cultivators have closed since adult-use sales began in December 2019, including about 191 grow operations. [8]
- TerrAscend announced in June 2025 that it would leave Michigan, closing 20 stores and four cultivation facilities. [7]
Why it happened
- No statewide limit on the number of licenses: the state must approve qualifying applications, and changing the voter-approved law requires a three-quarters vote of the legislature. [5][6]
- Growing capacity expanded much faster than sales. [6][7]
Does Ohio share these conditions?
No statewide limit on licenses: Ohio does not share this condition
Ohio has limits Michigan lacks: a 400-dispensary cap, a one-mile spacing rule for new dispensaries, one cultivator license per person, and a cultivator count set by the Division of Cannabis Control. Ohio had 37 cultivators (23 Level I and 14 Level II) as of October 16, 2026. [1][3]
Rapid growth in growing capacity: Ohio partly shares this condition
Growing space is capped per license, but cultivators may expand up to those caps with Division approval, so total capacity can still grow. The directory has not found a published figure for total growing space in use. [2]
Ohio so far
- Ohio's average adult-use price fell from $9.40 a gram when sales began in August 2024 to $6.80 in late January 2025. [4]
- The Division of Cannabis Control reported an average of $6.55 a gram for plant sales in the week of October 4 to 10, 2026. [3]
- These two figures may not be calculated the same way: the 2025 figure is an adult-use analysis of state data, and the 2026 figure is the Division's average for all plant sales. [4][3]
Directory assessment · analysis, not fact
Ohio will see a Michigan-scale price collapse within the next two years.Unlikely · moderate confidence
Ohio limits the conditions that drove Michigan's collapse: the number of cultivators is set by the Division, dispensaries and ownership are capped, and growing space has a ceiling. Ohio prices fell quickly after adult-use sales began but have changed little since early 2025. Confidence is moderate because total growing space in use is not published, provisional dispensaries are still opening, and the price figures are not fully comparable.
Ohio prices will drift meaningfully lower over the next two years rather than hold near current levels.Roughly even chance · low confidence
Prices in maturing markets have generally fallen over time, and Ohio's early drop fits that pattern. But Ohio's average has been nearly flat since early 2025, and only two price points have been reviewed so far. Confidence is low until a longer run of the Division's weekly data is reviewed.
Assessed October 21, 2026 · next review by January 21, 2027
Signals to watch
- The Division's weekly average price per gram
- The number of cultivators and approved cultivation-area expansions
- How many provisional dispensaries open (47 as of October 16, 2026)
- Any change to the limits in Ohio Revised Code 3796.05 or 3796.18
How other states responded
- Oregon: Oregon stopped issuing new licenses for applications received after January 1, 2022, under House Bill 4016. In 2024, House Bill 4121 set per-capita caps by license type; a type reopens only when active licenses fall below its population ratio. [9][10]
- Michigan: Michigan's largest operators asked lawmakers in 2022 for a moratorium on new grower licenses. Because the voter-approved law calls for unlimited licenses, a change needs a three-quarters vote; the sources reviewed do not show that a moratorium passed. [6]
Write to your Ohio lawmakers
Choose what you want to ask for. The letter is yours to edit; it states your view, not the directory’s.
More issues, such as illicit-market persistence, lab testing integrity, intoxicating hemp and local opt-outs, will be added as they are researched and sourced. See the Ohio advocacy guide.
Sources
- Ohio Revised Code 3796.05, version effective March 20, 2026
- Ohio Revised Code 3796.18, cultivator license
- DCC Update: By the Numbers (updated October 16, 2026)
- Ohio recreational marijuana market already showing signs of price contraction (January 30, 2025)
- MCL 333.27959, Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, section 9
- Moratorium proposed on new cannabis grower licenses to address plummeting prices in Michigan (October 4, 2022)
- Michigan marijuana market cratering amid oversupply (July 18, 2025)
- Michigan's cannabis market shrinks as new tax threatens more closures and layoffs (January 16, 2026)
- Oregon regulators implement cannabis licensing moratorium (April 25, 2022)
- Rules Advisory Committee agenda: 2026 limited lifting of marijuana license moratorium (September 25, 2026)
- Medical Marijuana Advisory Board Program Update, March 25 2026 (metrics as of March 1)
- Medical Marijuana Biennial Report 2024 (operational dispensary sites as of March 1, 2024)
- New York Cannabis Law section 72, adult-use retail dispensary license (revision of February 13, 2026)
- New York Cannabis Law section 68, adult-use cultivator license (revision of April 9, 2021)
- New York Cannabis Law section 64, selection criteria
- Resolution 2026-19, amendment applications to expand adult-use cultivator capacity (March 5, 2026)
- New York Penal Law section 222.15, personal cultivation and home possession of cannabis
- Ohio Revised Code 3796.04, adult-use home cultivation
- Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (Act 16 of 2016), unofficial compilation
- Adult-use home cultivation FAQ (refers to regulations adopted June 11, 2024 and home cultivation beginning June 26, 2024)
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