MICHIGAN—Cannabis is a pretty big deal in Michigan—and there’s never a shortage of newsworthy headlines from the industry as the state inches closer to becoming the nation’s weed capital.
Here are a dozen things you need to know this week:
PRICES LEVEL: Following several months of declining marijuana prices in Michigan, the average retail price for an ounce of recreational weed is now keeping flat at about $90, according to recent statewide sales reports from the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency.
QUIET IN COURT: Viridis Laboratories was in court following allegations that it produced inaccurate test results for thousands of marijuana products that were sold in Michigan, but a judge blocked the public—and reporters at MLive—from attending the hearings.
NFL IN NILES: Former Detroit Lions Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson and former teammate Rob Simms last week made a public appearance at Primitiv, a pot shop they co-own in Niles. The duo reportedly has plans to expand outside of Michigan with another pot shop in Boston.
LIKE IT’S 1999: Method Man, Redman, and B-Real offered a star-studded headline performance for the first Spark in the Park music festival in Ypsilanti’s Riverside Park.
GOING ONCE: The assets of embattled Dimondale marijuana cultivator and retailer Skymint—which includes the leases on its 23 pot shops in Michigan—will reportedly be auctioned off to the highest bidder after the company fell short on its unpaid debts in March.
RIVERVIEW IN REVERSE: A group of anti-marijuana activists is leading a ballot proposal to overturn the local ordinance that makes recreational weed sales legal in the city of Riverview. If successful, it would be the first city in Michigan to reel back its pot laws.
COMING SOON: Presidential Cannabis Co. announced plans to expand its line of pre-rolled joints and blunts into the Michigan market. The company claims to produce the “World’s Strongest” bud—but only time will tell if their products will be able to compete in Michigan.
CRIME IN CANNABIS: Michigan State Police are reportedly investigating a string of break-ins at several marijuana dispensaries in Calhoun and Jackson counties—including a recent attempted break-in that was caught on video at Aim High dispensary in Tekonsha Township.
MINNESOTA DREAMING: The recent legalization of recreational weed in Minnesota has allowed Michigan-based Emerald Fire Farms to purchase its first out-of-state retail location.
CHERRY KUSH: A new study reportedly bills Traverse City as the top city in the state for cannabis use, with a whopping 65.8% of its residents reporting that they consume cannabis. Grand Rapids came in a close second, with 65.4% of its residents puffing instead of passing.
NEW POT SHOPS: Exclusive Brands celebrated the grand opening of its newest dispensary in Lapeer last week—and gave out a free ounce to the first 50 customers. LIV Cannabis Co. also opened a new shop in Grand Rapids as part of its expansion into West Michigan.
POT PRIDE: All profits from this month’s sales of STIIIZY, Treetown and Redemption brands at Pharmhouse Wellness in Grand Rapids will be donated to the GR Trans Foundation.
This article originally appeared in The MichiGanja Report, a free monthly newsletter from The ‘Gander about all things cannabis, written by political correspondent Kyle Kaminski. Click here to subscribe, and we’ll send the next edition straight to your inbox.