Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed an antitrust lawsuit against nine multistate cannabis operators (MSOs) for anti-competitive practices that included reciprocal purchasing agreements to rig the market and disadvantage Ohio’s independent cannabis licensees.
The MSOs named in the lawsuit include:
- Ascend Wellness
- Ayr Wellness
- The Cannabist Company
- Cresco Labs
- Curaleaf
- Green Thumb Industries
- Jushi
- Trulieve
- Verano
According to the lawsuit, senior representatives from the companies agreed in late 2022 to reduce purchases from independent operators to “preserve shelf space for one another during a period of increased supply and declining prices,” with some companies even establishing “explicit internal quotas” that were “negotiated at a national level,” the attorney general’s office said in a press release.
“Our investigation uncovered allegations of an industry-wide scheme designed to push small Ohio businesses out of the market. Ohio’s antitrust laws protect competition and consumers, not backroom deals that rig the system for a select few.” — Attorney General Yost, in a statement
The lawsuit argues that the conspiracies have reduced cannabis product quality, restricted product choices, stifled product innovation, and bred supracompetitive pricing for the cannabis industry, a violation of the state’s antitrust laws.
