Ohio Medical Cannabis Patients Dissatisfied with Program

According to a report by the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, a little less than half of Ohio’s medical cannabis patients are “extremely dissatisfied” or “somewhat dissatisfied” with the state’s medical cannabis system, the Dayton Daily News reports. The number one reason for their dissatisfaction given by the 1,326 patients who took the survey – or why they didn’t use licensed dispensaries or dropped out of the program altogether – was the continued high prices of medical cannabis in Ohio.

Nearly three years into the program, Ohio medical cannabis is 44% more expensive than cannabis in neighboring Michigan, the report says.

“We follow the economic trends because you don’t want (the price) to be too low or too high, so there’s a median that has been set by the industry,” Ariane Kirkpatrick, CEO of Harvest of Ohio, said in the report. “Everybody’s selling pretty much at the same price, all of the locations. There’s no price-gouging by any individual owners.”

She added that owners have an understanding not to discount prices too much “just so they can get all the sales.”

The report notes that price-per-gram in Ohio fell from $17 in 2019 to $11 or $10 by the end of the year. However, since January 2021 prices have remained stagnant, despite more producers and dispensaries coming online.

Another reason for program dissatisfaction is the lack of medical cannabis homegrows, the report found. Kirkpatrick said a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis and home cultivation will be introduced in the upcoming Ohio legislative session that will address the complaint.

“I don’t see that as a threat (to the industry) at all,” she said. “I see it more as … something that’s needed in terms of accessibility for patients.”