MONROE – As Ohio begins selling recreational marijuana on Tuesday, the issue of product pricing between Ohio and Michigan dispensaries is raising many questions.
“The difference between 10 miles south of Ohio and 10 miles north of Michigan is huge right now,” said Harrison Carter, owner and operator of Nar Cannabis in Monroe, Michigan.
Carter has owned Nar Cannabis since 2021 and helped open Nar Reserve in Columbus in 2023.
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Carter, a business owner who has now started selling recreational products to customers in two states, says Ohio customers should prepare for a price shock.
“That won’t change tomorrow,” Carter said. “It will take two, three, four years for the infrastructure and supply to expand to the point where demand in Ohio can be met.”
Carter says the cannabis supply in Ohio is much lower, but demand is high, leading to rising prices.
An example of this is dried cannabis, of which the state of Ohio only allows a maximum of one ounce per transaction.
According to Carter, the average price for an ounce of dried cannabis flower in Michigan is $89. However, in Ohio, the price can be between $250 and $300.
There are also price differences when it comes to food.
“A 200-milligram pack retails for between $4 and $8 here in Michigan,” Carter said. “100 milligrams or so will be in the $30 to $40 range in the Ohio market.”
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Carter says in Michigan, depending on the brand, you can buy eight to 12 packages of edibles, each containing 200 milligrams.
In Ohio, however, a similar number of packages may only contain a maximum of 1,100 milligrams.
Some customers, however, are not concerned about the differences. Stephen Balla III of Toledo, who has been shopping at Nar for more than two years, says Ohioans should wait and see how the market develops.
“People in Ohio, just be patient,” Balla said. “I use that word all the time, just be patient and it’s not that far to drive here. Eventually, it will get to a point where everyone can get their product at basic prices.”
This story was published by WTOL
