Primitiv

primitivgroup.com

Primitiv is a cannabis brand founded by former Detroit Lions players Calvin Johnson and Rob Sims. The partners have been growing the plant at their facility (with a staff of about 15 people) in Webberville, and selling it into the Michigan distribution system for more than a year.

Photo courtesy of Primitiv

Icewood Platinum Rose

Lil’ Blade, the son of late Detroit rapper Blade Icewood, partnered with HYMAN Cannabis to produce a strain in honor of his father. The strain, Platinum Rose, is the first step in what Lil’ Blade says is his way of cementing Blade Icewood’s legacy and developing Icewood as a brand.

The strain is available at a variety of local dispensaries and a complete list can be found here.

Photo courtesy of Sxrreal and HYMAN Cannabis

BLK Sapote

blksapote.com/

Blk Sapote is a no-smoke cannabis experience that uses hemp teas, and aims to expand the traditional thinking around cannabis use. The brand was founded by childhood friends, Ashley Parks and Courtnie Pierce, and works to curate experiences and provide a luxurious cannabis experience to members of their “High Tribe.”

Photo via BLK Sapote / Instagram

Premiere Provisions

710 Perry Ave., Big Rapids; 231-629-8188; premiereprovisionsbr.com

It's a family affair: Premiere Provisions is owned by Kenneth Bryant Jr and son his Aaron, with his other son Kenneth Bryant III serving as the store's purchase manager. The business started in 2017 in Ann Arbor, but soon moved to Big Rapids, where they now offer medical and recreational pot. "We like to think of ourselves more like a Foot Locker," Kenneth Bryant III says. "Everybody else is trying to be Nike, they want to manufacture their own stuff, but we want to bring in all the coolest brands into one store."

Photo courtesy of Premiere Provisions

Calyxeum

calyxeum.com

Calyxeum is a Black woman-owned medical cannabis growing and processing business in the 7th District on Detroit's west side. Headed by Latoyia Rucker and Rebecca Colett, Calyxeum is creating a minority inclusive space in the cannabis cultivation and processing industry.

Photo courtesy of Calyxeum

Noble Road

nobleroadco.com

Brandon Riley, co-founder of Nobel Road, says he got into the industry because he noticed there were very few Black people in the edible market. “There's a real shortage, and it's a problem,” he says. What started as an idea on a golf course became a reality thanks to Riley’s experience in hospitality and his partner’s experience in beverage service. Together, they have come to offer cannabis-infused cookies, with flavors including peanut butter, chocolate chip, and molasses, as well as gummies and distillates, out of a historic bakery in Lansing. But Riley says Noble Road wasn’t necessarily an easy road, adding that he and his partner “bootstrapped the whole thing” without much seed money. He says that not having access to capital is what keeps the cannabis industry from being more inclusive. “It's a very capital-intensive industry,” he says. “And if you don't have those relationships, that's the first biggest hurdle.” Noble Roads offers its products in dozens of metro Detroit dispensaries and will roll out seasonal flavors for the holidays, like pumpkin, candy cane, and sugar cookies.

Photo via Brandon Riley

Funky Extracts

pincanna.com

When Detroit native Jujuan "Funk" Coleman came up with a logo for his cannabis company Funky Extracts, he picked a smelly sock. "When you speak of cannabis, 'funk' is good," he says. "So I correlated 'funk' with the quality of our products." Coleman doesn't shy away from the, let's say, dank aspect of marijuana. Once he started making cannabis-infused gummies, he decided to use full spectrum cannabis oil as opposed to a cannabis oil distillate. That means his gummies have more of a cannabis taste, but the effects last longer. Made with a partnership with Farmington Hills-based Pincanna at their facility in Pinconning, the products are available only for medical marijuana customers for now. His initial offerings include fruit punch, orange, green apple strawberry, and grape flavors, with more on the way, "but I want to save the best for last," he says. For now, his products are carried at Gage Cannabis Co. stores across the state, at the Pincanna Market in Kalkaska, and Green Genie and Green Pharm in Detroit.

Photo via Funky Extracts

Midwest CannaNurses

mcn.health

MIdwest CannaNurses helps bridge the gap between healthcare and cannabis. Founded by nurses Biyya A. Lee and Ebony Smith, a Detroiter, Midwest CannaNurses aims to help promote safe and effective plant-based therapy in more diverse communities. The CannaNurses are advocates for the de-stigmatization of cannabis in urban communities and communities of color.

Photo via Midwest CannaNurses/Instagram