Cleveland nets $740,000 from recreational marijuana sales after state releases tax money – cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Adults buying recreational marijuana netted over $740,000 for Cleveland’s coffers since buying weed at dispensaries first became legal in Ohio.
The city received its share of marijuana tax dollars from the state last week, City spokesman Tyler Sinclair confirmed. It comes after Cleveland and other cities were left to wait for their share of the tax levied on recreational sales.
Ohio’s voter-approved marijuana laws gave municipalities the final decision on whether to allow dispensaries within their borders. They also taxed sales at 10% with 36% of the money raised by marijuana sales in cities that said yes going back to those towns.
But state lawmakers claimed the original ballot issue did not include the appropriate legal language that would allow the state to send that money. So, as legal sales began in August 2024, the state held the money and a debate ensued over how to spend the millions of dollars that marijuana sales had generated.
State lawmakers in December cleared up the controversy by passing Ohio Senate Bill 56, clearing the way for the state to distribute the sales tax money to the communities. The remaining 64% goes into the state’s coffers.
State Sen. Steve Huffman announced on January 9 that the state was beginning to send some of that money to communities where dispensaries are located.
From July 2024 to November 2025 the state collected a total of $33 million from the dispensaries, according to Huffman’s news release.
Cleveland is home to seven of Ohio’s 195 dispensaries. Sinclair said Cleveland received just over $740,000 for marijuana sales between August 2024 through 2025’s end.
He said the city has not yet decided how to spend the new tax dollars.
Sean McDonnell covers Cleveland City Hall for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Prior to this role he covered the business beat. His focus, whether reporting on city government or the economy, is to write…
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