Ohio’s medical cannabis program officially launched in 2018. Since then, any state residents wishing to obtain or renew a medical marijuana card were subject to a $50 fee paid annually. Caregivers also had to pay a fee of $25. Fortunately, this is about to change.
Effective March 4, 2024, all medical-card-related fees in Ohio will be drastically reduced to just one penny. This change only stands to benefit medical patients and will help incentivize Ohioans to get their medical cards despite upcoming adult-use (recreational) cannabis legalization.
This change was brought about by the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control (DCC), which is further working to entirely eliminate all fees associated with medical cards. For now, the $0.01 charge is the lowest they can go due to necessary software updates that must be implemented. They estimate that the fee will be completely removed by late spring.
“The DCC understands that a one-cent charge is not ideal; however, at this time, the Division feels it is appropriate and necessary to provide this immediate financial relief for patients and caregivers in the short term while working toward a full fee elimination as soon as the updates to the registry can be made,” the DCC said in a statement.
The fee reduction is a result of ongoing work toward recreational cannabis in the state, which was passed by popular vote in the November 2023 election. The measure has stalled out somewhat as legislators work to meet a compromise regarding the rollout of adult-use cannabis. Sales are set to begin in September, but some lawmakers are pushing for it to happen faster.
“Every day that goes by where we don’t have the ability for folks to either go to the medical dispensaries to legally purchase, we also open ourselves up for an illegal market,” Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D) said to WKRC. “All that time that passes without having these pathways to legal purchase, without having expungements, and that means people who could have this on their record that aren’t able to get jobs, not able to change things in their lives because of having this record.”
At the moment, cannabis is legal to possess and grow within the state.
Migraines are far more debilitating than typical headaches, often disrupting daily life. More and more people are turning to cannabis to manage their chronic pain, with migraines being the top reason among headache patients. Cannabis is such a powerful tool for migraine and pain relief that many patients even use medical marijuana in place of…
We all know honey comes from bees, and bees need flowers to make honey, so does this mean bees can make infused honey from the flowers of the cannabis plant? The details are more complicated than you’d think. Cannabis flowers don’t produce nectar, so bees can’t make honey from them. Since cannabis plants pollinate via…
Over the last decade, there has been considerable discussion about the future of cannabis. Typically, those conversations center around legality, market size, and social and medical impacts, all of which are interesting topics in their own right. But there has been far less discussion about the digital future of cannabis. With more and more of…
When Johaness Gutenberg introduced his printing press in the mid-15th century, he sparked a revolution in the way the masses could spread and consume information. For centuries after, the primary way we shared content was through print media, like books and magazines. But when Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989, that all…
Talking to your family about cannabis can be difficult. You’re often battling with generations of stigma and the impacts of changing social norms in real time. Conversing with a grandparent who grew up believing that cannabis is bad and those who smoke weed are lazy, among other sentiments, can be challenging. With that in mind,…
Sign up for our newsletter
Get your medical marijuana card today
Sign up in under 5 minutes
Start By Selecting Your State