Detroit — Four years after Detroit voters overwhelmingly approved recreational marijuana sales, the city on Thursday awarded its first batch of licenses.
Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison joined City Council Pro Tem James Tate; Anthony Zander, Director of Detroit’s Department of Civil Rights, Inclusion & Opportunity; and the city’s top attorney Conrad Mallet Jr. to announce the first 33 recipients of recreational adult-use marijuana retail licenses.
The announcement followed a Wednesday federal court ruling by U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman, who denied multiple lawsuits and temporary restraining orders against the city’s marijuana ordinance. Friedman previously ruled that the city’s first attempt at how to award recreational marijuana licenses to “legacy Detroiters” in 2020 was “likely unconstitutional.” Since then, the city has re-written the ordinance to be inclusive while still prioritizing equity applicants to give longtime Detroiters a leg up in the lucrative marijuana industry.
There is a 10% excess tax on top of 6% sales tax across the state for marijuana. Officials say there will be no additional tax beyond that.
Kim James, director of the city’s Marijuana Ventures & Entrepreneurship, expects the revenue sharing from marijuana to be in the millions for the city. Recreational cannabis in Michigan is forecasted to hit a new high of $1.5 billion this year and estimated to yield $3 billion in annual revenue in Michigan by 2024.
Bettison said Christmas came early for Detroiters.
“It has taken two versions of the ordinance and overcoming several core challenges but the team and several others have worked tirelessly to overcome every obstacle and detour,” Bettison said, thanking Tate for making sure the process was fair. “Recreational marijuana interest has tremendous potential to generate wealth in income for our city, as well as personal and generational wealth for those who participate.”
Under Detroit City Code, an equity applicant is a primary resident of a community like Detroit that has been disproportionately impacted by marijuana enforcement where at least 20% of residents live below the federal poverty level and the marijuana conviction rate is higher than the state median of 660. The business must have at least 51% owned by such a person can also qualify as an equity advocate.
In total, the city received 90 applications, Zander said. Of those, 50 were non-equity retail licenses and the city is awarding 13. Of the city’s 33 equity license applications, 20 are being awarded.
There were no non-equity microbusiness applications and four equity microbusiness application, however, none were awarded.
For consumption lounges, there were no non-equity applicants and three equity applicants, none of which were awarded.
Tate, who led the initiative over the last few years, celebrated the news Thursday saying it has been a fight to make sure the lucrative industry was possible for those who are “disproportionately impacted.”
“I am very thankful for Judge Friedman’s wisdom in not allowing a temporary restraining order to take place that would again set us back and prevent us from moving forward,” Tate said. “This has been a very challenging journey to get to this point. Every step of the way, there’s criticism of people who say that you’re doing it wrong, you’re trying to make something perfect that can’t be perfect. … But today is why we fight and we fight because we want to make sure that this industry has no glass ceiling, especially for those that have been persecuted for the same plan.”
The 33 Detroit awardees
Equity Licenses
- House of Zen, 14501 Mack Ave.
- LIV Cannabis, 12604 E. Jefferson
- Motor City Kush, 10 E. 8 Mile                    Â
- Liberty Cannabis, 2540 Rosa Parks            Â
- High Profile, 20327 Groesbeck
- Chronic City, 6810 McNichols
- Plan B, 20101 W. 8 Mile
- DaCut, 12668 Gratiot
- Blue Wave, 1947 W. Fort
- The Remedy, 20041 W. 8 Mile
- Cloud Cannabis, 16003 Mack                   Â
- Gage 313, 14239 W. 8 Mile
- Detroit Herbal Center, 14325 Wyoming
- Nuggets, 18270 Telegraph
- Livernois Provision, 8305 Livernois
- Inhale, 15670 E. 8 Mile
- TJM Enterprises, 8600 E. 8 Mile #28
- The Herbalist, 15510 W. Warren
- Ivy League, 471 S. Schaefer
- SJTC Enterprises, 6640 E. 8 Mile
Non-Equity Licenses
- Luxury Loud, 2520 22nd
- THC Detroit, 19533 W. Warren
- Det Natural, 3394 Fort
- Jars Cannabis, 11400 8 Mile
- House of Dank, 3340 E. 8 Mile
- SMOK, 7461 W. 8 Mile
- Oz Cannabis, 16829 Harper
- MPP Services, 2710 Livernois
- West Coast Meds, 8620 Lyndon
- Cookies, 6030 8 Mile
- Southwest Meds, 6237 Federal
- Leaf and Bud, 14470 Livernois             Â
- Playa Kind, 8301 St. Aubin
Kimberly Scott, founder of the Black Cannabis Licensed Business Owners Association of Detroit and one of the awardees, Chronic City, said it has been a 12-year fight.
“I always knew that the city of Detroit would be recreational. I fought tooth and nail every single day for this so that Black folks and cannabis in the city of Detroit could benefit off this industry. I want to see people like me, where I come from being able to benefit and purchase cannabis in their own neighborhoods,” said Scott, who was overcome with emotion. “I am so overwhelmed and overjoyed. I hope moving forward, we all collectively will continue to be successful and grow this cannabis industry in the city of Detroit.”
Najanava Harvey-Quinn, from equity awardee High Profile, said she has been working as an activist to help expunge records after her sister’s life was stinted by a marijuana conviction. The next expungement fair is Jan. 7 at the Durfee Innovation Society. High Profile’s store will be on Groesbeck and Eight Mile, she said.
She called for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to pardon cannabis-related offenses to rectify wrongdoings created by possessing a plant.
“My sister was one of the first people I knew who got a cannabis charge and wasn’t able to move forward in her life. For that and so many reasons, we’re going to continue to fight,” she said. “You’ll see many folks in this cannabis industry that will continue to give back in equitable ways. We will continue to promote brands based in Detroit, based on people who look like people who have been impacted by the war on drugs.”
► Study:Marijuana, hallucinogen use at all-time high among young adults
Up next
The city is distributing a total of 160 licenses in three phases. Of those, 100 licenses are dedicated to retail, 30 microbusinesses and 30 consumption lounge licenses.
Round two of applications will start at the end of January, if approved by the City Council. Here’s what’s left:
Round 2 (Date TBD)
- Up to 30 retail
- Up to 10 micro-business
- Up to 10 consumption lounge
Round 3 (Date TBD)
- Up to 30 retail
- Up to 10 micro-business
- Up to 10 consumption lounge
The Office of Marijuana Ventures & Entrepreneurship has published a full listing of the applicants in all categories, along with their scores at www.homegrowndetroit.org.
There are no new medical marijuana provisioning center licenses, the city said. Click here to renew.
As for if any more lawsuits should arise, Mallett said, “the city is not going to be intimidated.”
“Frivolous causes of action do nothing but create an unpleasant atmosphere for the person who does it,” he said. “We’re going to fight this fight day in and day out as long as it is required. We’re not going to be intimidated by the frequency and amount of law suits. The city of Detroit has 117 very bright lawyers and we’re going to represent the people rigorously and fight for these people’s property, interests successfully and regularly.”
srahal@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @SarahRahal_
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