For a day that started as a countercultural wink, 4/20 has become something much more recognizable: a sales event.
Walk through any Ohio dispensary this week, and you’ll see it: discounted pre-rolls, bundle deals, loyalty perks. What used to be underground is now advertised on storefronts and social media.
Bloom Dispensary has been pushing its 4/20 deals since March. Advertised on its website, its sale features 30-40% off a massive selection of the products it sells, making it a huge day for “gardeners” to get more green.
Since voters passed Issue 2 in 2023, legalizing recreational cannabis, it has turned into a legitimate retail market. According to the Ohio Capital Journal, the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control reported that recreational sales began in late 2024, and Ohio has since seen marijuana sales climb to more than $1 billion as of Jan. 3.
At the local level, that matters. Dispensaries bring in foot traffic, they create jobs and more importantly, they impose a 10% sales tax on all adult-use cannabis. Under Ohio law, municipalities with dispensaries receive a portion of cannabis tax revenue, making 4/20 not just a cultural moment, but an economic one.
But if this year feels a little different, because it is.
Behind the 4/20 promotions is a quieter reality: Ohio’s cannabis landscape changed significantly in the past month thanks to Senate Bill 56. The law, which took effect March 20, 2026, didn’t overturn legalization, but it did reshape it.
One of the biggest changes imposed by the new law is where people can buy certain products. Items that exceed 0.4 mg in THC and were once sold in smoke shops and convenience stores are now being classified as marijuana and can only be sold at licensed dispensaries.
For local dispensaries like Bloom, The Landing, and Mavuno, that’s a win. It consolidates the market and funnels more customers through regulated storefronts. For small businesses, like Buddy’s Lounge, that relied on hemp-derived products, it’s a different story.
According to the Buddy’s Lounge website, its permanent closure was a result of Senate Bill 56 and its impacts on hemp sales in Ohio.
Before the new legislation, Buddy’s was operating under the 2018 Federal Farm Bill, which legally separated hemp from marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act, allowing it to legally sell its THC, HHC and CBD products.
What Buddy’s represents is something bigger than one storefront closing; it shows how quickly the rules of the cannabis industry can change, and those changes don’t impact everyone equally.
The law places tighter control over how cannabis and hemp-derived products are sold, limiting certain items to licensed dispensaries and reshaping who can legally participate in the market. In doing so, it significantly changes the system that voters approved when they passed Issue 2 in Ohio.
For consumers, the changes to cannabis consumption come with fine print that isn’t always obvious. Just because cannabis is legal in Ohio doesn’t mean access is simple or consistent.
And beyond what’s available for purchase, cannabis still exists within a framework of rules that don’t disappear just because of legalization. Workplace policies remain in place, public use is now more restricted and the responsibility still falls on consumers to understand where legal access begins and ends.
That’s where 4/20 in Ohio lands today. What was once a symbol of something outside the system has become part of it. Now built around storefront promotions, tighter restrictions and an entirely legalized marketplace, the meaning of the unofficial holiday has gotten lost behind smoke.
But even as the holiday becomes more commercial, the system behind it is still being rewritten.
Because legalization didn’t resolve the question of cannabis in Ohio, it only changed where the conversation happens. Now, it’s playing out in dispensaries, in legislation, and in the gap between what was promised and what is actually practiced.
BudPost is a cannabis opinion column that does not reflect the views of The Post. Have thoughts? Email the Editor in Chief at editor@thepostathens.com
