Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed an antitrust lawsuit against nine multistate cannabis operators (MSOs), alleging they used reciprocal purchasing agreements and other anti-competitive practices to rig the market and disadvantage independent Ohio licensees. The lawsuit claims the companies agreed to reduce purchases from independent operators to preserve shelf space for one another, leading to reduced product quality, restricted choices, stifled innovation, and supracompetitive pricing.

Ohio Attorney General Accuses Multistate Cannabis Operators of Price Fixing

Feb 9, 2026

Source:

Graham Abbott

Ganjapreneur

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed an antitrust lawsuit against nine
multistate cannabis operators (MSOs) for anti-competitive practices that
included reciprocal purchasing agreements to rig the market and
disadvantage Ohio’s independent cannabis licensees.

The MSOs named in the lawsuit include:

- Ascend Wellness
- Ayr Wellness
- The Cannabist Company
- Cresco Labs
- Curaleaf
- Green Thumb Industries
- Jushi
- Trulieve
- Verano

According to the lawsuit, senior representatives from the companies agreed
in late 2022 to reduce purchases from independent operators to “preserve
shelf space for one another during a period of increased supply and
declining prices,” with some companies even establishing “explicit internal
quotas” that were “negotiated at a national level,” the attorney general’s
office said in a press release.

“Our investigation uncovered allegations of an industry-wide scheme
designed to push small Ohio businesses out of the market. Ohio’s antitrust
laws protect competition and consumers, not backroom deals that rig the
system for a select few.” — Attorney General Yost, in a statement

The lawsuit argues that the conspiracies have reduced cannabis product
quality, restricted product choices, stifled product innovation, and bred
supracompetitive pricing for the cannabis industry, a violation of the
state’s antitrust laws.