Ohio Launches Cannabis Risk Campaign as Majority View Use as Safe

Ohio’s Department of Commerce announced a $20 million statewide campaign on marijuana health risks on May 11, 2026 — the same week its partner organization released polling that shows most Ohioans regard cannabis as safe and that its legal status has made using it more socially acceptable.

The campaign will be overseen by the Department of Commerce and developed in partnership with the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, a nonprofit created under the direction of Gov. Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost to distribute Ohio’s share of opioid settlement funds. The $20 million comes from the current state operating budget. The effort launches in phases: maternal health messaging is set to roll out this summer, followed by youth prevention and employer workforce outreach. National prevention experts, including tobacco-cessation organization Truth Initiative, are helping develop campaign materials.

“With non-medical marijuana now legal in Ohio, it’s more important than ever that Ohioans — especially young people and mothers — have access to accurate information and understand the real consequences of use,” DeWine said in the department’s announcement.

OneOhio commissioned a pre-campaign survey to establish a baseline. Public Opinion Strategies conducted the online poll with 2,000 Ohio adults between February 23 and March 1, 2026, and it carries a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Broad Acceptance, Rising Use

The survey results document a state where cannabis has moved firmly into ordinary adult life since adult-use sales opened in August 2024. Four in ten Ohio adults — 41% — now report using marijuana in some form, up from 35% in 2024. Among Ohioans under 55, that figure reaches 56%. Among men, 49% report using; among women, 34%. The urban-rural gap is wide: 69% of residents in big cities report using, against 35% in rural areas. Strikingly, education level shows almost no differentiation — rates run between 39% and 43% across all groups from high school graduates to those with postgraduate degrees.

Attitudes track closely with behavior. Sixty-two percent of Ohioans say cannabis is “a relatively innocent drug that poses few risks to users” compared to other substances — a figure that reaches 81% among current users. Nearly three in five Ohioans say recreational use is safe. Two-thirds say legalization has made cannabis more socially acceptable, and 60% believe legalization has been good for local communities. More than half — 53% — say their community would be better off if more adults used marijuana regularly.

For the campaign’s planners, that wide acceptance is exactly the problem. The question of whether legalization normalizes use has followed cannabis policy debates for years; recent research on youth use trends has found mixed results across states. Ohio’s pre-campaign polling gives the state a concrete baseline against which it will measure whether a $20 million education effort can shift deeply held perceptions. Among current users, the same poll found that 52% have at some point tried to stop — data the foundation’s pollsters identified as a potential opening for intervention messaging.

Where the Campaign Is Aimed

The maternal health phase targets a specific gap the survey makes visible. Half of Ohio women who are either pregnant or hoping to become pregnant reported currently using marijuana. Among women ages 18 to 34 who use, 54% do so daily. Overall opinion holds firm — 75% of Ohioans say using marijuana during pregnancy is not safe — but that view softens considerably among current users (34% say prenatal use is safe) and among younger female users who are or plan to be pregnant (37%). The campaign will use paid media and community outreach to encourage expectant mothers to discuss risks with their healthcare providers, according to the department’s announcement.

The polling also shows gaps the employer and youth phases will need to address. Among current users, 46% reported driving while high, and 46% said they believe driving within an hour of use is safe. Among employed Ohioans who use marijuana, 45% said they have used during work hours, with higher reported rates among hourly workers and those working from home. As perceptions of cannabis diverge sharply from those of alcohol and tobacco, the state’s campaign faces the challenge of countering a normalization that existing research suggests legalization accelerates.

The campaign rollout follows a stretch of legislative adjustment since voters approved adult-use legalization in November 2023. The General Assembly in December 2025 passed legislation modifying the voter-approved statute — adding restrictions on packaging and advertising, banning intoxicating hemp products from unregulated retail sale, and adjusting THC potency limits. The Ohio Division of Cannabis Control, housed within the Department of Commerce, continues to oversee adult-use licensing.

Market size underscores why the DeWine administration is moving now. Ohioans spent more than $836 million on adult-use marijuana products in 2025, the program’s first full calendar year, following roughly $242 million in purchases during the final months of 2024 after dispensaries opened.