Ohio cannabis sales hit $110.3 million in August 2026, up 19 percent year over year, and Standard Wellness CEO Jared Maloof sees room to reach $150 million a month. He gives no timetable, and he expects wholesale prices to fall gradually rather than all at once. The growth case for Ohio rests on a retail first playbook: more stores, more shoppers discovering the regulated market, and a slower price adjustment than the crashes seen elsewhere.
Standard Wellness has been in Ohio since the beginning. When the state launched medical cannabis sales on January 16, 2019, The Forest in Sandusky served one of the state’s first patients. Founded in 2017, the company is now vertically integrated with businesses in Ohio, Missouri, and Utah, plus affiliated operations in Maryland. In Ohio it grows and processes cannabis at its Gibsonburg facility and sells through The Forest dispensary brand.
What changed in Ohio law?
The company’s expansion comes as Ohio implements Senate Bill 56, a broad revision of the state’s cannabis laws signed by Governor Mike DeWine in December 2025. Most provisions took effect March 20, 2026. The law brought medical and adult use cannabis under a combined framework, capped dispensaries at 400 statewide, and set statutory THC limits of 35 percent for plant material and 70 percent for extracts, although the Division of Cannabis Control can raise the extract limits through rulemaking. It also banned the manufacture and sale of intoxicating hemp products that had competed with regulated cannabis through convenience stores, vape shops, and other retail outlets.
That last piece connects directly to the demand shift already visible in Ohio. Licensed retail revenue rose after hemp THC left mainstream shelves, a story covered here in Ohio Hemp Ban Lifts Licensed Cannabis Sales: https://brianholler.com/2026/10/30/ohio-hemp-ban-licensed-cannabis-sales/
Why is retail first?
For Standard Wellness, the decision to concentrate investment on dispensaries comes down to how quickly those businesses generate a return. Maloof said retail generally offers a shorter path to recouping an investment than cultivation or manufacturing, making stores the company’s priority during the past two years. The company plans to turn more attention to cultivation expansion late this year and into next year, anticipating an overall investment mix of roughly 60 percent retail and 40 percent wholesale. Most of that growth is financed through operations, although the company has used borrowing selectively, including financing real estate purchases for recently acquired retail locations while paying for their buildouts with internally generated funds.
Every new store also strengthens the wholesale side, because additional outlets give the company’s own cultivation and manufacturing facilities more places to sell. Even with that incentive, Standard Wellness aims to source approximately 25 to 35 percent of its dispensary inventory from its own operations, reserving most shelf space for other suppliers, and it uses arm’s length transfer pricing that Maloof said produces retail margins similar to those on third party products.
What are the costs and constraints?
Beyond inventory costs, labor is the largest retail expense, making staffing and the way customers move through a store important considerations as the dispensary business grows. The company uses kiosks for shoppers who prefer limited assistance while keeping staff available for those who want to discuss products. At cultivation and manufacturing facilities, where Maloof identified labor and electricity as the largest expenses, automation is used to limit additional hiring, moving existing employees into other roles rather than replacing them with equipment.
Ohio’s advertising restrictions are a real constraint. Maloof said it is harder to reach prospective shoppers in Ohio than in states such as Michigan and Missouri, where cannabis billboards are nearly ubiquitous. “Not everybody knows that cannabis is legal in Ohio,” he said.
How far can Ohio grow before prices fall?
Rising sales have been accompanied by relatively stable pricing and margins over the past year, although average transaction sizes have declined as the market matures. Maloof attributes that trend partly to legal dispensaries attracting a broader range of consumers, including shoppers who spend less per visit as they move away from illicit sellers.
Maloof believes the state can eventually reach $150 million in monthly cannabis sales, with additional dispensaries helping more people discover and access the regulated market. The pace of cultivation investment will help determine how the market develops, particularly as additional supply begins to put pressure on wholesale prices. He expects smaller operators to fare well in Ohio, where financial strain across the broader cannabis industry has slowed the deployment of capital that might otherwise bring new capacity online more quickly.
That does not mean Ohio will avoid the price declines seen in other markets. Maloof expects the adjustment to unfold more gradually as operators work within the limits of their balance sheets. “You will see capacity expansion, you will see prices come down, but it will take time,” he said.
How operators navigate that transition and respond to changing state regulations will be among the issues discussed at IgniteIt’s Cannabis Capital and Policy Summit in Washington, DC, on November 18.
Frequently asked questions
How big is Ohio’s cannabis market now?
Regulated cannabis sales reached $110.3 million in August 2026, up 19 percent from the previous year. Standard Wellness CEO Jared Maloof believes the market can eventually reach $150 million a month, with no timetable offered.
What did Senate Bill 56 change?
Signed in December 2025 with most provisions effective March 20, 2026, it combined medical and adult use cannabis under one framework, capped dispensaries at 400 statewide, set THC limits of 35 percent for plant material and 70 percent for extracts, and banned intoxicating hemp products sold outside the dispensary system.
Why is Standard Wellness prioritizing retail over cultivation?
Retail generally offers a shorter path to recouping an investment than cultivation or manufacturing. The company plans an investment mix of roughly 60 percent retail and 40 percent wholesale, with cultivation expansion coming late this year and into next year, mostly funded through operations.
Source: IgniteIt, You Will See Prices Come Down, But It Will Take Time: Why Ohio Cannabis Has Room to Grow: https://www.igniteit.com/news/ohio-cannabis-market-growth-prices-standard-wellness/