Recreational marijuana sales surpass $10M in Michigan, generating new taxes

Recreational marijuana sales surpassed $10 million after six weeks of being legal in Michigan.

The sales generated $1.7 million in new taxes for cash-strapped local governments and the state. The Marijuana Regulatory Agency has now approved 36 dispensaries that are permitted to sell cannabis to anyone over the age of 21. Six of them deliver. More dispensaries are expected to be approved in the next few months.

Detroit still has no recreational marijuana dispensaries after the city council imposed a last-minute moratorium on cannabis businesses. The city council is expected to soon establish rules and guidelines for recreational dispensaries and growers.

Nearly 80% of Michigan’s communities have passed laws preventing recreational marijuana businesses from opening, even though voters in most municipalities supported legalization of pot for anyone 21 years or older in November 2018.

Only three recreational dispensaries have been approved to open in metro Detroit: 1st Quality Medz and Herbology in River Rouge and Green House of Walled Lake in Walled Lake.

Unlike medicinal cannabis, recreational marijuana has a 10% excise tax and a 6% sales tax. Excise tax revenue goes to local governments, schools, and roads.

Recreational marijuana sales are expected to top $150 million in sales and excise taxes in the 2020-21 fiscal budget that begins in October, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency. By 2022-23, the agency projects the tax revenues will reach $262 million.

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