As the estimated $38 billion annual hemp cannabinoid sector focuses on a looming federal ban, operators are shutting down amid law enforcement raids enforcing state-level restrictions already in effect.
And cannabis businesses are benefiting, with one key market seeing a 25% boost in sales since a state ban went into effect.
In Ohio, where Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 56 into law last year, sales of hemp-derived THC products have been limited to state-regulated cannabis retailers since March.
Only a few select hemp-derived THC beverage brands, granted a temporary reprieve as part of an ongoing court case, can be found in mainstream outlets in the state.
And that’s seen cannabis retail revenue increase by 25% through the end of the third quarter, Verano Holdings Corp. CEO George Archos noted Thursday.
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“We’ve also seen continued growth for the entire Ohio market following the state’s hemp ban taking effect at the end of March,” Archos said during Verano’s quarterly earnings call, according to a transcript obtained by MJBizDaily.
Cannabis sales are surging in Ohio, with the state on track to exceed the $1.09 billion in combined sales recorded in 2025.
Annual sales in Ohio stood at $1.04 billion through Oct. 3, the most recent state data available. First-quarter sales exceeded $306.6 million, but second and third-quarter sales exceeded $350 million each, state data shows.
Archos called the sales boost “a notable positive trend that correlates with the start of the hemp ban – which indicates hemp consumers are shifting towards licensed dispensaries.”
The sizable increase in sales revenue comes despite a nearly 30% drop in average prices, as retailers are also ringing up more items than ever before.
Shares in Verano, listed on OTC markets, were trading at around $5.15 Thursday afternoon. That’s down from over $7 a share early in the year.
The company reported $212 million in earnings through the first three quarters of 2026, an increase of $10 million from the year before, and has cut its net losses from about $44 million to $4 million over the same period.
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Verano is the first major marijuana MSO to report third-quarter earnings.
Other leading companies, including Curaleaf Holdings, Trulieve Cannabis Corp. and Green Thumb Industries, are scheduled to report quarterly earnings next week.
State-licensed cannabis companies have long complained about unwelcome competition from hemp operators, who enjoyed significant advantages such as immunity from Internal Revenue Code Section 280E and the ability to conduct interstate commerce.
Those benefits are scheduled to end Dec. 11, when the federal definition of hemp changes that will render most hemp cannabinoid products Schedule 1 controlled substances.
Hemp operators and their allies on Capitol Hill remain confident that a last-minute rescue is possible.
However, passing a new law in Congress between now and Dec. 11 may require parliamentarian maneuvering.
Cannabis lobbies are dead-set against any further extension for hemp companies.
