With the first adult-use sales taking place in late 2019, Michigan became the 10th US state to legalize cannabis for recreational use. The cannabis industry, however, still isn’t federally legal so it looks a little different in every state. There are quirks and distinctions you may not expect overall and Michigan does some things a little differently than most other states.
Here are 5 things that you probably didn’t know about Michigan’s legal cannabis industry:
Many states follow a similar path towards legalizing recreational adult-use cannabis. First they decriminalize, then they legalize medical marijuana, and then they finally legalize recreational cannabis. Michigan, however, has left it up to local municipalities to decide whether or not they want to allow medical and/or recreational cannabis on their turf.
This municipality-first approach has continued even after legalization. One example is Michigan not imposing state-wide licensing caps on cannabis provisioning centers, while nearby neighbor Illinois has set a limit of no more than 185 dispensaries by 2020 with at least another 75 dispensary licenses coming in 2021.
Compared to other states, Michigan is more generous when it comes to allowing residents to legally grow cannabis at home. Adults in Michigan can grow up to 12 plants in their residence for personal use. By the end of 2020, only 8 states permitted legal growing of recreational cannabis, with most allowing much fewer plants. For instance, California and Colorado only allow 6 plants, and Oregon only 4. If you grow at home, consider yourself lucky to be a Michigander!
Because cannabis still isn’t federally legal, Michigan does not allow the sale of cannabis imported across state lines. This means that every single gram you see on provisioning center shelves is Michigan grown! Our Fluresh collection comes from state-of-the-art growing facilities in Adrian and Grand Rapids using sustainable, renewable, and eco-friendly cultivation techniques.
Michigan is very much in the process of making the switch from medical to recreational cannabis.
While medical cannabis isn’t going anywhere, the focus has shifted to opening adult-use provisioning centers to supply the burgeoning recreational market. In June 2020, Michigan’s weekly recreational sales surpassed medical sales for the first time, a trend that is expected to continue.
Additionally, Michigan’s medical market seems to be losing patients, as many of them move over to the recreational adult-use market. By June 2020, the medical market had already lost roughly 7% of its registered patients.
Despite this, medical provisioning centers still outnumber recreational ones by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1. However, as more Michigan municipalities see their neighbors enjoy the benefits of legal cannabis, recreational legalization is inevitably expected to spread through the state.
Michigan has done a great job of encouraging recreational sales by implementing more consumer-friendly cannabis sales taxes than most other states. The state only imposes a reasonable 10% cannabis sales tax, alongside its state-wide 6% sales tax. While medical provisioning centers may outnumber adult-use ones right now, don’t expect this to continue forever.
Last but not least, in Michigan a cannabis store is not called a ‘dispensary’. Instead, these retailers are legally required to go by the name ‘provisioning centers’ instead of the more traditional ‘dispensary’ name. If you’re looking for a local cannabis store in Michigan, don’t search for a ‘dispensary near me’, look for a provisioning center instead.
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