COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOWO) — Ohio recreational marijuana remains substantially more expensive than cannabis sold in Michigan, with the gap potentially giving Ohio consumers a financial incentive to cross state lines even as a new state law makes bringing marijuana back into Ohio a criminal offense.

The cheapest ounce of marijuana listed in Ohio was $112 as of July 31, compared with just $6.99 for the cheapest ounce in Michigan, according to the WeedBuddy Cannabis Price Index. The same data showed the cheapest ounce at $49.99 in Arizona and $16.73 in Colorado.

Looking at median prices provides a less dramatic, but still significant, difference. Ohio had the highest median ounce price among the four states at $147.35. Michigan’s median was $99, followed by Colorado at $110 and Arizona at $120.

The price difference also extends to smaller quantities commonly purchased by consumers. The median price for an eighth of cannabis flower in Ohio was $35, compared with $20 in Michigan as of July 31 according to WBNS 10 TV.

Morgan Fox, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said price is likely to remain a major factor in determining where consumers purchase marijuana.

“Price is going to be one of the most important aspects in terms of determining where they purchase cannabis,” Fox said.

Fox said Ohio’s proximity to Michigan is particularly important because consumers in northern Ohio have long had access to Michigan’s lower-priced marijuana market.

“People were already used to driving to Michigan to purchase cannabis, so as long as there’s still a massive price differential, they’re probably going to continue doing so at least for the foreseeable future,” Fox said.

That creates a legal complication for Ohio consumers.

Ohio recreational marijuana sales began in August 2024, roughly nine months after Ohio voters approved legalization. But Republican lawmakers have since made significant changes to the voter-approved law, including restrictions on bringing marijuana into the state from elsewhere.

Senate Bill 56, which took effect earlier this year, makes it illegal to bring marijuana purchased legally in another state back into Ohio.

Fox said people who are caught with marijuana that cannot be verified as having been purchased legally in Ohio or grown legally in Ohio could face penalties comparable to those under the state’s pre-legalization prohibition.

“If you’re caught with cannabis that cannot be verified purchased in Ohio or verified grown in Ohio, then it’s the same penalties as it was under prohibition of pre-legalization,” Fox said.

He also questioned whether Ohio consumers who routinely traveled to Michigan before recreational marijuana became legal in Ohio are aware of the change.

“If people had gotten used to doing that when cannabis was not legal in Ohio, they’re probably going to continue to do so,” Fox said.

The restrictions in Senate Bill 56 go beyond purchases made across state lines. The law also prohibits possessing marijuana outside its original packaging and requires marijuana to be stored in a vehicle’s trunk while being transported.

Ohio lawmakers also changed the state’s rules concerning THC concentrations. The law lowered the maximum THC concentration for adult-use marijuana extracts from 90% to 70%, capped THC in adult-use flower at 35% and prohibited smoking marijuana in most public places.

Despite the price differences and regulatory changes, Ohio’s legal marijuana industry has generated significant sales.

Ohio’s recreational marijuana sales totaled approximately $1.67 billion as of July 11, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Cannabis Control.

The state had 223 dual-use marijuana dispensaries as of Thursday, meaning those businesses can serve both medical marijuana patients and adult-use customers.

The WeedBuddy data also shows significant price differences within Ohio itself.

At the end of July, the median price of a standard eighth of cannabis flower was $36.40 in Columbus, $32 in Cincinnati and $30.80 in Cleveland.

Across the state line, the median price was $25 in Lansing, $20 in Detroit and $20 in Monroe, Michigan — a city roughly 12 miles from downtown Toledo.

For consumers in northwest Ohio, the Monroe prices put the state’s lower-cost marijuana market particularly close to home. But buying marijuana in Michigan and transporting it back across the Ohio border can now carry legal consequences under Ohio law.

Ohio’s cannabis industry has continued expanding since legalization. State regulators reported 32.5 million manufactured marijuana products sold and 267,590 pounds of plant material sold through the state’s regulated market.

At the same time, access remains uneven because local governments can prohibit recreational marijuana businesses.

More than 160 Ohio municipalities or townships had moratoriums banning the sale of adult-use marijuana as of June 3, according to research from Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.

Michigan’s marijuana market has had a significant head start.

Michigan voters approved recreational marijuana legalization in 2018, and licensed adult-use sales began in December 2019 — nearly five years before Ohio’s market opened.

That longer history, combined with a much larger retail network, has helped push Michigan’s prices downward.

“Michigan’s market is much more well established, and we’ve seen in most cannabis markets that prices tend to go down over time,” Fox said.

Michigan had more than 800 active retail licenses as of June 2026, according to the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency. Michigan marijuana retailers generated about $3.17 billion in revenue during 2025.

Fox said the number of businesses competing for customers is one of the major reasons Michigan consumers can find lower prices.

“Michigan also has a much bigger market in terms of the numbers of dispensaries and the number of licensed businesses than Ohio does, largely because Ohio artificially capped that,” Fox said.

That competition, he said, forces businesses to keep prices lower in order to attract customers.

Michigan is now the nation’s second-largest adult-use marijuana market, behind California.

Ohio’s market, meanwhile, is still relatively young and operating under a regulatory structure that has undergone substantial changes since voters approved legalization.

The result is a growing legal marijuana market in Ohio, but one where consumers can still find substantially cheaper cannabis just across the border in Michigan.

For Ohio consumers, however, the price comparison comes with an important warning: marijuana purchased legally in Michigan does not become legal to possess in Ohio simply because it was purchased legally on the other side of the state line.

That distinction is increasingly important as Ohio’s marijuana market matures and lawmakers continue to reshape the rules governing what consumers can buy, possess and transport.