2024 will go down as one of the quietest years for cannabis market launches. The debut of Ohio’s adult-use retail market on Aug. 6 is the lone standout, in contrast to perennial market expansion that’s been a bedrock of the industry for more than a decade.

Last year, by comparison, three states in the Northeast and Midwest launched recreational marijuana sales, while two in the Deep South began medical cannabis sales.

This year, Ohio became the 21^st U.S. state to establish adult-use sales, following Maryland’s launch in July 2023 and Missouri’s debut in February 2023.

The gap of nearly one year between recreational market launches is believed to be the industry’s longest drought since the first wave of regulated, adult-use consumer access began in 2014.

This item originally appeared on MJBizDaily. The rest of the story is available here.