Why Ohio’s medical marijuana prices are so hard to figure

The Ohio State University’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center caused some consternation last month when it released the results of a survey that, among other things, estimated the average price of medical marijuana in Ohio at more than $18 per gram.

The Ohio Medical Cannabis Industry Association disputed their findings, claiming an average price under $11 per gram.

While the policy center’s figures weren’t wrong, they were misleading because most patients buy unprocessed flower, which is significantly cheaper than $18 per gram, said Jana Hrdinova, the center’s administrative director.

The group revised its figures after acquiring more information from the Ohio Department of Commerce, which tracks medicinal marijuana sales.

This might seem like a trivial disagreement, but the back and forth represents an acute example of just how difficult it can be to calculate the prices patients pay at Ohio’s medical marijuana dispensaries.

Patients consistently list cost as one of the biggest barriers to acquiring medicinal cannabis in the Buckeye State. The requisite doctor’s recommendation alone costs as much as $200, and knowing dispensary prices ahead of time helps patients decide if it’s worth it, Hrdinova said. [Read more at The Columbus Dispatch]