Ohio Attorney General David Yost sued nine multi-state organizations (MSOs), calling them “cartels” that have been allegedly colluding to fix prices and shut out independent cannabis suppliers and retailers.
Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc., Ayr Wellness Inc., The Cannabist Company, Cresco Labs, Curaleaf Inc., Green Thumb Industries, Jushi Holdings, Trulieve Cannabis Corp. and Verano Holdings are the named defendants.
“Our investigation uncovered allegations of an industry-wide scheme designed to push small Ohio businesses out of the market,” said Yost in a Feb. 6 statement announcing the lawsuit. “Ohio’s antitrust laws protect competition and consumers, not backroom deals that rig the system for a select few.”
Yost alleges that the MSOs are in violation of the state’s Valentine Act which forbids business agreements between at least two separate companies that restrain trade and hurt competition. The investigation that preceded that court action came after Yost’s office received a report of “shelf-space allotments” from an industry employee in October 2024.
In the lawsuit, Yost argues that the MSOs have been colluding in Ohio and other states by reaching closed purchasing deals, while shutting out independent retailers and suppliers from similar agreements. The complaint also alleges that the MSOs routinely shared proprietary sales information with each other to better coordinate deals and promotions.
“The lure of success in Ohio’s growing cannabis market has attracted large, multistate cannabis operators to eagerly clamber for Ohio consumer dollars. But these multistate operators aren’t clambering to participate in the competition; they’re actively suppressing it,” said the 51-page complaint filed Feb. 5 in the Franklin County Court of the Common Pleas.
“They have systematically leveraged their operations in other states to diminish competition, and now they are applying the same anticompetitive strategies in Ohio. Until now, the cartels’ activities have gone unchallenged,” said the complaint.
Some defendants respond
For the most part, it appears that the defendants are preparing to challenge the state’s accusations, although as of Feb. 12, no formal responses have been filed in court.
“While we remain committed to a transparent and collaborative relationship with all state regulators, the current trajectory of this inquiry is both novel and premature,” said a Curaleaf spokesperson in an emailed statement. “After months of cooperating with the Attorney General’s inquiry, we are dismayed that a complaint has been filed without any attempt to resolve these differences before taking such dramatic action. True regulatory oversight is best served through meaningful dialogue and a thorough understanding of the industry, rather than high-profile litigation designed for a news cycle.”
A spokesperson from GTI said, “While we do not comment on the specifics of pending litigation, we intend to vigorously defend against these allegations.”
A spokesperson from Jushi said that the allegations were not accurate.
“We respectfully disagree with the allegations against Jushi and believe the complaint reflects several mischaracterizations,” Chief Strategy Officer Trent Woloveck said in an emailed statement.
“We are concerned that the investigation appears to have solely focused on publicly traded operators such as Jushi and neglects the fact that Jushi has and continues to do significant business with dozens of Ohio single-state operators, on terms that do not provide preferential treatment to any class of operator,” he continued.
A spokesperson from Cresco Labs said that as a matter of policy, the company does not comment on ongoing litigation. The five other defendants did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
Some of the defendants that did not respond are currently in the middle of financial restructurings. The Cannabist announced Jan. 30 that it had entered into a forbearance agreement with its senior note holders, while Ayr Wellness sold numerous assets to its creditors in November 2025 as part of its own restructuring.
Neighboring states and local competition
Michigan is currently Ohio’s only neighbor with legal adult-use, while Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia all allow medical cannabis.
Michigan launched its market Dec. 1, 2019, making it one of the more mature cannabis markets in the country. The average price of flower in Michigan, which is typically among the lowest in the nation, was $58.22 for an ounce in December, according to the most recent monthly report from the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency.
Meanwhile, over a year after Ohio’s market launch, the average price for an eighth of flower was $19.71, which is roughly $157.68 for an ounce, according to Headset.
West Virginia saw its first medical dispensary opening in November 2021, Pennsylvania launched its medical market on Feb. 15, 2018, and Kentucky’s market opened on Dec. 13, 2025.
Effective March 2026, Ohio will have a limit of 400 total dispensary licenses. Currently, there are 37 cultivators, 46 processors and 196 dispensaries, according to the complaint.
Every one of the defendant companies, with the exception of Trulieve, is vertically integrated in Ohio, according to the complaint. Trulieve has licenses to cultivate and dispense, but not process.
Out of the state’s 60 counties, 13 are exclusively served by the MSO defendants, while an additional seven only has a single independent dispensary competing against the defendants.
Alleged trade deals in 12 other states
The MSOs trade among themselves, ensuring that they dominate retail in the state, according to the complaint, which also alleges that they have similar trade balances, or reciprocal supply agreements in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
“For example, at various times, Defendants GTI and Ascend have agreed that they will mutually stock 25% of their Ohio dispensary shelves with each other’s cannabis products,” the complaint alleges.
The lawsuit also includes reference to an email between a GTI senior vice president and the president of Cannabist explaining that the former company considers deals in other states when weighing whether to do business with that same company in Ohio. In short, they’ll stock the other company’s product in Ohio if the other company stocks GTI product in another state.
The state seeks a ruling that the defendants violated Ohio’s Valentine Law. They also want an injunction blocking the defendants from continuing the colluding activity alleged in the complaint, along with a $500 per day fine for the entirety that these agreements were in place.
