COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed an antitrust lawsuit against nine multistate cannabis operators, accusing them of engaging in anti-competitive practices that reduced consumer choice and kept cannabis prices artificially high in Ohio.
The lawsuit alleges that large, vertically integrated cannabis companies operating both in Ohio and nationwide entered into coordinated agreements to favor one another’s products in dispensaries while limiting or eliminating shelf space for smaller, Ohio-based cultivators and processors.
According to Yost’s office, the investigation began after an Ohio cannabis industry employee submitted a tip in October 2024 alleging widespread use of “shelf-space allotments” among major cannabis operators. The tip claimed that these agreements were negotiated at a national level and enforced locally, effectively shutting independent Ohio businesses out of the market.
“Our investigation uncovered allegations of an industry-wide scheme designed to push small Ohio businesses out of the market,” Yost said. “Ohio’s antitrust laws protect competition and consumers — not backroom deals that rig the system for a select few.”
Investigators allege that senior representatives from major multistate cannabis operators met in late 2022 and agreed to reduce purchases from independent businesses during a period of increased supply and falling prices. According to the complaint, some companies established internal quotas that reserved a significant portion of dispensary shelf space for products sourced exclusively through reciprocal purchasing agreements with other multistate operators.
The companies named as defendants in the lawsuit are:
- Ascend Wellness
- Ayr Wellness
- The Cannabist Company
- Cresco Labs
- Curaleaf
- Green Thumb Industries
- Jushi
- Trulieve
- Verano
The lawsuit alleges each company violated Ohio’s Valentine Act by entering into reciprocal trade agreements with competitors, sharing competitively sensitive information, and engaging in discriminatory distribution practices that disadvantaged independent Ohio cannabis businesses.
According to the attorney general’s office, the alleged conduct reduced product choice and quality for consumers, stifled innovation, and allowed companies to maintain or increase prices above competitive levels in Ohio’s cannabis market.
Yost is seeking injunctive relief to halt the alleged practices and restore fair competition within the state’s cannabis industry.
