MONROE, Mich. — With Ohio beginning recreational marijuana sales on Tuesday, the topic of product prices between Ohio and Michigan dispensaries has many asking questions.
"The difference between 10 miles south into Ohio compared to 10 miles north into Michigan is leaps and bounds right now," said Harrison Carter, the owner and operator of Nar Cannabis in Monroe, Mich.
Carter has owned Nar Cannabis since 2021 and helped open Nar Reserve in Columbus in 2023.
A business owner who has begun selling recreational products to customers in two states now, Carter says that Ohio customers should be getting ready to experience sticker shock.
"That's not going to change tomorrow either," said Carter. "That's going to take 2, 3, 4 years for infrastructure and supply to pick up to meet the demand in Ohio."
Carter says that the supply of cannabis is much lower in Ohio, but demand is high, causing prices to rise.
An example of this is in dried cannabis, which the state of Ohio only allows a maximum of one ounce per transaction.
According to Carter, in Michigan, the average price of an ounce of dried cannabis flower is $89. But in Ohio, he says the price can range from $250-300.
There is a price difference for edibles, too.
"A 200-milligram pack here in Michigan will retail anywhere between $4-$8," Carter said. "100 milligrams or so in the Ohio market, those are going to be in the $30-$40 price range."
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Carter says in Michigan, you can buy eight to 12 packs of edibles with 200 milligrams in each pack depending on the brand.
But In Ohio, a similar number of packs can only contain up to 1100 milligrams maximum.
Still, some customers are not concerned about the differences. Toledo native Stephen Balla III, who has shopped at Nar for over two years, says Ohioans should wait to see how the market shakes out.
"People in Ohio, just be patient," Balla said. "I keep using that word, just keep being patient and the drive here isn't that long. Eventually, things will happen to where anybody can get their product at basic prices."
According to the Ohio Department of Commerce, traveling across state lines with marijuana is illegal.