Short answer: The average price for medical marijuana ranges from $5 to $20 per gram of flower. The major factor that influences the price of marijuana in any state is whether it’s medical marijuana or adult-use marijuana.
Average Medical Marijuana Prices Nationally
Medical marijuana prices throughout the country range generally from $5 to $20 per gram of flower. That’s a big difference between the most affordable and expensive grams, and that difference can add up over time when you’re purchasing medical marijuana regularly to treat a health problem. That’s why it’s useful to know where and how to get the most affordable medical marijuana you can legally obtain. Other national averages include:
- $20 to $60 for a gram of medical marijuana concentrate
- $2 to $5 per dose of edibles
- $15 to $80 per one-ounce bottle of sublingual tincture
Average Cost of One Ounce of High-Grade Medical Cannabis by State
According to the 2022 World Population Review, as of the end of 2021, there were 37 U.S. states and one U.S. territory that had legalized marijuana for medical use. A 39th state, Alabama, just passed medical marijuana legislation in the summer of 2022. Here are each of the U.S. states with medical marijuana listed with the average price for one ounce of high-quality medical cannabis as of August 10, 2022.
- Alabama – $343
- Alaska – $298
- Arizona – $297
- Arkansas – $331
- California – $257
- Colorado – $242
- Connecticut – $333
- Delaware $340
- District of Columbia (U.S. territory) – $598
- Florida – $299
- Hawaii – $314
- Illinois – $354
- Kansas – $344
- Louisiana – $359
- Maine – $288
- Maryland – $361
- Massachusetts – $341
- Michigan – $290
- Minnesota – $280
- Mississippi – $349
- Missouri – $355
- Montana – $269
- Nevada – $270
- New Hampshire – $335
- New Jersey $344
- New Mexico – $337
- New York – $337
- North Dakota – $384
- Ohio – $330
- Oklahoma – $345
- Oregon – $211
- Pennsylvania – $358
- Rhode Island – $308
- South Carolina – $336
- Utah – $281
- Vermont – $346
- Virginia – $365
- Washington – $233
- West Virginia – $363
According to these figures, the national average price for one ounce of high-grade medical cannabis is $326; this means the price of medical marijuana in Ohio (at $330 for that same quantity and quality) is essentially at the national average. Meanwhile, the state or territory with the highest average cost for high-quality medical marijuana is the District of Columbia (aka Washington D.C.), at $598 per ounce, and the one with the lowest is Oregon, at $211.
Read also: How to Get Your Medical Marijuana Card in Ohio Online?
Does Insurance Cover Medical Marijuana?
According to Verywell Health, health insurance will not pay for medical marijuana, and here’s why: insurance companies won’t do anything that’s considered illegal. And, marijuana is illegal federally. In the United States, marijuana is still considered a Schedule I drug and, therefore, illegal on a federal level to possess, purchase, sell or use, even if it’s medical marijuana in a state like Ohio that has legalized medical marijuana. This is amplified by the fact that it is also federally illegal for doctors to prescribe Schedule I controlled substances. Health care providers must register with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and can therefore be subject to losing their license to prescribe any medication if they prescribe marijuana. The way doctors work around this in most medical marijuana states is by recommending medical marijuana for a patient or certifying a patient’s qualification to use medical marijuana under state law. Insurance providers, however, do not cover “recommended” medications or medications for which a patient has been “certified;” they only cover prescribed medications. If a doctor prescribed marijuana to a patient, even in a medical marijuana state, that doctor could be exposed to federal legal and professional consequences.
Read also: Ohio Medical Marijuana Laws 2021.
Factors That Influence the Price of Medical Marijuana
One of the biggest factors influencing the price of marijuana in any state is whether it’s medical marijuana or adult-use marijuana (aka recreational marijuana.) In states where adult-use marijuana is available, there are often steep taxes and fees imposed on sales, making adult-use marijuana products significantly more costly for consumers than medical marijuana products sold to patients in those same states. Other factors that influence the price of medical marijuana include:
- Supply and demand
- Product type or form, such as flower, tincture/concentrate or edible
- Taxes and regulations, such as state and/or local/municipal excise and/or sales taxes
- Potency, such as low, medium, or high-grade
- Other quality factors, such as scent and flavor profile (i.e. terpenes)
- Location, including municipalities within each state
- Economy, including inflation
How Would Passage of Recreational Marijuana Effect Ohio Weed Prices?
Based on these factors, the passage of recreational marijuana in Ohio would do one of two things, effectively accomplishing the same result. Either recreational marijuana will be priced higher than the current price of medical marijuana in the state or the price of medical marijuana will be lowered as a result of increased revenue to the state due to taxes and fees imposed on recreational marijuana purchases. In both cases, medical marijuana patients will have the price advantage over recreational marijuana consumers in Ohio. Therefore, obtaining an Ohio medical marijuana card still has its advantages even after recreational marijuana legalization passes and will pay for itself fast after just a couple of visits to your local dispensary.
Benefits of Getting a Medical Marijuana Card Online
Getting your Ohio medical marijuana card online offers many appealing benefits, including:
- Affordability – When you use telehealth for your medical marijuana evaluation and certification, you pay much less than you would pay out of pocket to visit a doctor’s office in person for that service. You also save money by not having to pay for gas or other transportation costs to get to and from the doctor’s office.
- Health and Safety – Using telehealth to get your medical marijuana card in Ohio allows you to stay at home, away from contagious infections and safety hazards in transit between your home and the doctor’s office.
- Time and Convenience – It may take weeks or months to schedule an appointment with a doctor in person, whereas, with telehealth, you can usually see a doctor within minutes or hours.
- Privacy – You may not want your doctor or friends to know you’re using medical marijuana.
Affordable Medical Marijuana Cards in Ohio
At mmjcard4less.com, we provide online consultations with certified Ohio doctors to help patients get their Ohio medical marijuana card quickly and easily. What’s more, using our telehealth service, you can do it all from the comfort and safety of your own homes. Best of all, our service will save you money over the cost of a medical marijuana consultation and certification conducted in person at a doctor’s office.