Study: Cannabis Legalization in Ohio Could Be Worth Up to $403M in Tax Revenues

A study published this month by Ohio State University researchers suggests that adult-use cannabis sales in the state could generate between $275 million and $403 million by the fifth year of operations.

The analysis, “What Tax Revenues Should Ohioans Expect If Ohio Legalizes Adult-Use Cannabis?,” uses cannabis tax data from Michigan fiscal year 2021 as its focal point for Ohio cannabis tax revenue estimates “given the demographic and tax structure similarities.”  

The researchers use three different scenarios for rate of diminishing retail sales growth through year five of an operational legal adult-use program; state population figures as the basis for calculating per capita cannabis tax revenue rates; and model for three different Ohio pricing scenarios. 

Ohio advocates are seeking to put the issue on 2024 ballots and earlier this month submitted an additional batch of petition signatures after state officials said they were short in their initial batch.  

State lawmakers have also introduced legislation to enact the reforms, but that bill has not been introduced in the full House and remains in the chamber’s Finance Committee. 

Ohio voters first considered adult-use cannabis legalization in 2015 but ultimately rejected the proposal, which had drawn criticism for containing monopoly-like elements that would have kept cannabis cultivation rights exclusive to a handful of anonymous donors.