Buying weed in Ohio, start to finish

One bill rewrote most of the rules, and a hemp fight is still playing out.

• November 3, 2025. Stores have to take back defective, mislabeled or wrong items for 30 days.
• December 19, 2025. The governor signed Senate Bill 56.
• March 20, 2026. Senate Bill 56 took effect. Smoking only on private homes and farms, only cannabis bought in-state is legal, opened packages ride in the trunk, gifting only on private property, and anything over 0.4 mg of THC per container is dispensary-only.
• April 28, 2026. State-licensed medical marijuana moved to Schedule III under federal law. Adult-use stayed Schedule I.
• September 11, 2026. Packages carry the universal THC symbol.
• December 11, 2026. Congress pushed most of the federal 0.4 mg hemp cap to this date, the same line Ohio already draws.

Since March 20, 2026, any product with more than 0.4 mg of THC per container counts as marijuana and can only be sold at a licensed dispensary. Delta-8 gummies, THC seltzers and high-THC "hemp" flower sold anywhere else are illegal, while CBD under the line stays legal.

• Check the map. Licensed stores are on the Division of Cannabis Control's dispensary map, with its seal in the entryway.
• Read the package. Legal products carry the state seal, the universal THC symbol and the store's name and license number.
• The court fight. A July 13, 2026 federal court order shields 10 named hemp companies for now. That cover ends when the federal cap starts.

Every store on Alexis 420 comes from the state's license list.

Of the 231 licensed spots we list, 210 post their hours. Most open around 9 AM and close around 9 PM, 63 stay open to 10 PM or later at least one night, and 208 open on Sundays.

Stores can sell from 7 AM to 11 PM and set their own hours inside that window, so nothing here runs all night. The law caps the state at 400 dispensaries, new ones have to sit a mile from each other, and every store keeps 500 feet from schools, churches, libraries and parks. The full rundown is in our dispensaries open late guide.

Columbus leads our list with 25 stores, then Cincinnati with 24, Cleveland with 10, Dayton with 9 and Akron with 5. The limits and the excise are the same everywhere. What changes is the county sales tax, 8% in Columbus and Cleveland and 6.5% in Canton.

Cities and townships can ban stores or cap how many open, but can't otherwise limit what state law allows. Cincinnati sits right on the Kentucky line, where the legal map ends at the river. Start with the Columbus dispensaries list if you're in the capital.

Alexis 420 only lists stores on the license list from Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Cannabis Control (DCC). Law facts on these pages come from the Revised Code, the regulator's rules and pages, the Department of Taxation and city rules, and we recheck them when the law changes.

Want to check a store yourself? Our how to tell if a dispensary is licensed guide shows how.