TOLEDO, Ohio — Marijuana will soon be legal to buy and sell in the Buckeye state, but that does not mean marijuana shops will be open quite yet.
Professor Brandon Cohen teaches multiple cannabis management classes at the University of Toledo and works directly with multiple Michigan-based marijuana companies.
Cohen said that based on the process he's seen in Michigan and other states, it is likely going to take about a year before Ohioans see a marijuana dispensary in their neighborhoods.
"I would imagine probably by the end of 2024 we should start seeing stores popping up for adult use," Cohen said. "And some of the licensees who already sell medical marijuana, they will be quicker to the market because they already have a footprint."
According to Cohen, the process is just beginning for legalized marijuana. Once Issue 2 has finished getting through the state legislature, it will be passed off to the Ohio Department of Commerce, which is the same group that regulates medical marijuana and liquor.
The Department of Commerce's Division of Cannabis Control will then set all the rules and regulations for sale, which will take at least a few months. It is a process that the division will have nine months to complete.
Once that is finished, the public will be asked to submit proposals for businesses, and once those are reviewed and the best candidates are selected for licenses, Ohio should start seeing businesses for recreational use start popping up by the last fiscal quarter of 2024.
Issue 2's ballot language claimed these new businesses will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. Cohen said it's 100% true.
"I've been working in the Michigan market for four years, the legal market, and I know the tax base has generated over $300 million in taxes last year alone, so I can't imagine Ohio will generate any less," Cohen said. "Ohio is a bigger state than Michigan by a couple of million, so I imagine Ohio will earn the same amount, if not higher."
Cohen said that money will go into whatever the state designates it for; things like roads or schools, you name it.
He said he has already seen the benefits in Michigan and is excited to see them here in the Buckeye state.