1st recreational marijuana business opens in Detroit

DETROIT (FOX 2) – Detroit’s first recreation marijuana dispensary is open for business: Welcome to “Da Cut.”

“Here we are today, finally four years later, as a full-fledged adult use and a medical marijuana facility,” said Al Williams, the owner.

In 2018 Michigan legalized the recreational use of marijuana for people 21 and older, but Detroit faced some challenges.

“(We were) the last major city in Michigan to get into adult use, although we were the first major city in Michigan to go medical,” said WIlliams.

Lawsuits and legal challenges dragged on, but finally last month the city of Detroit approved 33 retail licenses.

Da Cut on Gratiot is a Black-owned business and one of the first to open.

“I came to support it and see what it’s like,” said one customer.

The store started selling a plethora of products on Wednesday.

“This is our Mac -1, this is one of our top-shelf strains,” said Brenda Essmyer, the store general manager. “It is known as Miracle Alien cookies.”

“I got that and I’m going to try it out and see how it does,” said another customer.

The bright packaging includes some catchy names.

Baby Jeeters are already a customer favorite

“If you’re at a social event, a gathering – take one and pass it around,” said Essmyer.

But if smoking isn’t your thing, there are options.

“Edibles, these are our most popular edibles over here,” said Essmyer. “Right here we have infused chocolate bars, which are a little bit different. People are used to gummies, right now we are trying to get into different type of foods.

“We actually have infused popcorn kernels, so you can pop that into the microwave for three minutes and now you can munch on your infused popcorn. They’re coming out with the craziest things.”

And Da Cut is selling them.

But they’re also about helping people.

“If you’ve got a felony on your record for selling marijuana or smoking marijuana- we are hiring right now,” said Williams. “And we’re prioritizing those felons that might have been in the industry illegally prior to now –  because it is legal, and it shouldn’t be a blemish on your record.”