By Michael Piwowarski
Michigan is reaping its reward for going green.
The Detroit Free Press reports that the state has sold $10 million worth of recreational marijuana since Dec. 1, 2019, when recreational sales first became legal. MLive.com reported that from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5, the fifth week of recreational sales in Michigan, $1.77 million worth had been sold.
However, Illinois has outpaced Michigan in recreational sales significantly. The Prairie State started selling recreational marijuana on New Year’s Day, and since then generated a staggering $10.8 million in sales as of January 7, the Chicago Tribune reports. By that time, Michigan had only achieved $8.3 million in sales.
This is likely due, in large part, to the amount of dispensaries in each state selling recreational marijuana. In Illinois, more than 30 dispensaries started selling recreationally right out of the gate. Michigan, on the other hand, started with a mere three licensed retailers, a number which has continued to grow ever since.
For example, ReLeaf in Chesaning opened their doors to recreational customers Wednesday, Jan. 8, becoming the first recreational retailer in Saginaw County.
Another major factor that contributes to Michigan’s smaller number of dispensaries is that individual cities in the state have elected to opt out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses.
Saginaw, for instance, is still under a 12-month “sunset provision,” which means they are banning recreational marijuana from the city until they learn more about state rules allowing such facilities. Midland and Buena Vista Township are among other local municipalities and townships that have opted out of recreational marijuana.
In Bay County, there are now three dispensaries listed as recreational sellers according to WeedMaps.com: Roots Medical Provisioning, Dank On Arrival and Puff.
Bay City manager Dana Muscott told the Collegiate that no money has been generated for the city on recreational marijuana thus far. Once collected, the money will go toward the general fund.
“We did actually end up selling out of all of our recreational inventory aside from […] a couple of concentrate items within the first five days,” says Marissa Burt, social media representative for Roots Provisioning.
Burt explained that, although the high consumer response was anticipated, she’s hoping for the high customer traffic to continue.
The Bay City board of commissioners voted in November to double the amount of recreational licenses allowed in the city from 25 to 50, possibly allowing room for growth in the area.
“We have 50 applications in some form of approval or review,” Terry Moultane, planning and zoning manager, told the Collegiate earlier. “It may be too early to say when all of them will become operational and their positive and negative impacts.”
