Ohio: from grow to dispensary, what ends up on the label

Step by step: Ohio

1. Step 1: Cultivator / harvest batch (Cultivator) A licensed cultivator harvests a batch: one variety, at most 15 lb of dried bud. Every plant and package is tagged in Metrc, Ohio's track-and-trace system. This is where the package tag, harvest date and net weight come from.
2. Step 2: The lab comes to the grow (Lab) Ohio does not let the grower pick the sample. A lab employee travels to the site, selects a random sample of at least 0.5% of the batch weight, and carries it back under a Metrc transfer manifest.
3. Step 3: Lab analysis (Lab) An independent lab, ISO/IEC 17025-accredited (required within two years of licensing), screens for cannabinoids, microbials, mycotoxins, heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb, Hg), pesticides, residual solvents in hydrocarbon extracts, moisture and water activity, and foreign matter. Potency is reported as received, no dry-weight correction. Terpenes are optional.
4. Step 4: COA + pass/fail into Metrc (Lab) The certificate of analysis carries the lab's name and license, the batch number, test dates, a pass/fail grid, the potency numbers, the lab manager's signature and a photo of the sample at receipt. It is uploaded to Metrc, and the result decides whether the batch can move.
5. Step 5: DCC oversight (DCC) The Division of Cannabis Control (Ohio Department of Commerce) licenses every link, inspects, and issues recalls. A failed batch is destroyed, except a microbial failure may go to solvent extraction. The Division's seal on the package is its mark that the product met state standards.
6. Step 6: Package + label (Packager) The cultivator (flower) or processor (products) seals the product in child-resistant, tamper-evident packaging and prints the testing lab's name and license, the batch number, the harvest, testing and packaging dates, the cannabinoid line items and terpene profile, and the warnings. Edibles carry the universal THC symbol on every serving. From 11 September 2026 a new format phases in (mandatory by 1 June 2027): a THC range instead of point values and the top three terpenes; a QR code to the COA is allowed, not required.
7. Step 7: Dispensary sale (Dispensary) The dispensary checks ID (21+, or a registered patient), adds its name and license to the package, hands over an itemised receipt, and stays within the daily limit of 2.5 oz of flower or 15,000 mg THC in products. Anything with more than 0.4 mg THC sold anywhere else is illegal in Ohio.