Ohio Medical Marijuana Patients Are Less Satisfied With The State’s Program Following Recreational Sales Launch, Survey Shows

*“I think the drop in satisfaction was…a little more than I expected. I
expected a little bit of a drop…but going from (74 percent) to (56
percent), that’s a pretty big drop.”*

*By Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal*

People reported reduced satisfaction with Ohio’s medical marijuana program
since recreational marijuana sales started, according to a new Ohio State
University Drug Enforcement and Policy Center survey.

Slightly more than half of the people surveyed (56 percent) reported being
either extremely satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the Ohio Medical
Marijuana Control Program (OMMCP)—a drop compared to 74 percent on last
year’s survey.

More people also reported some level of dissatisfaction on this year’s
survey—30 percent in 2025 compared to 20 percent in 2024.

“I think the drop in satisfaction was…a little more than I expected,” said
Jana Hrdinová, administrative director of the Drug Enforcement and Policy
Center. “I expected a little bit of a drop…but going from (74 percent) to
(56 percent), that’s a pretty big drop.”

The Drug Enforcement and Policy Center has been surveying medical marijuana
patients every year since sales started in 2019 and the latest report is
the first year when Ohio’s medical and recreational programs have
coexisted. More than 4,000 marijuana users were surveyed.

Ohio medical marijuana sales started January 14, 2019, and totaled $2.23
billion with 331,341 pounds sold as of September 13, according to the Ohio
Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control.

Ohioans passed a citizen-initiated law to legalize recreational marijuana
in 2023 with 57 percent of the vote, and sales started in August 2024. Ohio
legal marijuana sales topped $702.5 million in the first year.

The state’s medical marijuana program saw a 43 percent decline in active
patients from May 2024 to July 2025—going from 165,746 active patients in
May 2024 down to 94,294 active patients in July 2025, according to the
survey.

The program had 184,958 patients at its peak in October 2023.

More than half of those surveyed (56 percent) said they were extremely
likely to continue to register as a medical marijuana patient and 16
percent reported being somewhat likely, according to the survey.

It’s hard to know what this will mean for the future of Ohio’s medical
marijuana program, but Hrdinová expects there will be a further drop in
patients before the number of patients in the program eventually stabilizes.

“For the medical patients, they do not want to necessarily see themselves
as recreational patients or recreational users,” she said. “I think there
is a perception or cultural difference in those two terms, so I think some
patients will continue to register with the program regardless.”

The average monthly price of plant products rose to $7.42 per gram during
fiscal year 2025 compared to $6.16 per gram in fiscal year 2024, according
to the survey.

Michigan’s average monthly price of flower in recreational dispensaries was
$2.52 per gram, according to the survey.

“Unfortunately, I think we are always going to be compared to
Michigan,” Hrdinová said.

“But at the end of the day, the fact is, if you drive to Michigan, you pay
way less than you pay in Ohio dispensaries, and that’s just frustrating for
people who cannot make the trip on a regular basis.”

More than three-fourths of those surveyed (79 percent) said using marijuana
has reduced their need to use prescription pain killers and 26 percent said
using marijuana helped them reduce their use of illegal drugs, according to
the report.

“There seems to be some public and private benefit for some people when it
comes to replacing other substances with marijuana which might be less
harmful than the other substances,” Hrdinová said.

The Drug Enforcement and Policy Center laid out three policy priorities:
regulating intoxicating hemp products, collecting data and funding
Ohio-specific research, and providing education to the public.

There are a handful of bills in the Ohio legislature that are trying to regulate
intoxicating hemp products in various ways.

The Drug Enforcement and Policy Center recommends having a 21-year-old age
requirement to buy intoxicating hemp products, have specific safety and
production standards on intoxicating hemp products, and not marketing those
products to children, among other recommendations.

*This story was first published by Ohio Capital Journal.*

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State’s Program Following Recreational Sales Launch, Survey Shows appeared
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