Displaying items tagged: cannabis

The federal corruption charges announced Thursday against former Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson and three others likely signal a beginning, not an end.

LANSING — Federal prosecutors announced corruption charges Thursday against former Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson and three others in connection to bribes paid for marijuana licenses.

Some Michigan municipalities are getting creative with how they spend tax revenue coming back from their licensed cannabis businesses, while others are using the annual funding for core services and resolving budget deficits.

Grand Rapids cannabis operators are renewing calls for city officials to amend social equity requirements, which they say have become unreasonably hard and even impossible to attain.

GRAND RAPIDS — Cannabis operators want Grand Rapids officials to provide more education and clarity around the city’s Cannabis Social Equity Policy, as well as make policy changes so more operators can comply with their social equity promises.

Michigan cannabis prices have plummeted as more competition saturates the market, leaving industry operators eyeing new pathways like consumption lounges to grow their businesses in 2023. 

Prices in Michigan’s cannabis industry plummeted in 2022, leading to some closures and layoffs, and could fall even further in 2023 as more players enter the business.

MIDDLEVILLE — Backed by a group of business partners from West Michigan, The Botanical Co. is opening the first adult-use cannabis dispensary in the village of Middleville.

GRAND RAPIDS — City commissioners narrowly approved a resolution Tuesday to amend Grand Rapids’ cannabis social equity program and hold off on enforcement until the beginning of 2023.

Grand Haven will join dozens of communities statewide that allow cannabis sales for adult recreational use, though local officials have placed significant zoning restrictions on where retailers and other facilities could operate.

GRAND RAPIDS — A divided Grand Rapids City Commission is granting a 90-day grace period to cannabis operators that are failing to meet social equity goals they promised three years ago while city staff determine a path forward.

Very few Grand Rapids cannabis businesses are fulfilling social equity promises they made three years ago to gain an advantage when applying for a city license, though some city officials say the program is filled with “unattainable” goals.

GRAND RAPIDS — Just three out of 11 cannabis dispensaries are fully complying with voluntary social equity commitments they made three years ago to improve their chances of obtaining a license in a highly competitive lottery system, MiBiz has learned.

GRAND RAPIDS — New Standard plans to open its first dispensary in Grand Rapids with a new building in the city’s Midtown district near Medical Mile. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Terrapin Care Station and JARS Cannabis are partnering with Higher Learning Institutions to launch a year-long professional development program for minority entrepreneurs looking to get into the cannabis industry.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has joined 20 other governors in urging Congress to enact legislation that would enable more banks and credit unions to serve the growing cannabis industry.

The thriving and consistently crowded industrial real estate market has recently had to accommodate an increasing number of cannabis growing and processing plants in the municipalities that allow them.

A six-bill package introduced this month in Lansing seeks stricter state oversight of medical cannabis caregivers, which critics say is a veiled attempt by commercial growers to increase their retail market share.

KALAMAZOO TWP. — Cloud Cannabis Co. has acquired a 70,000-square-foot commercial grow facility in Kalamazoo from cannabis company KKind.

SAUGATUCK TWP. — New Standard cannabis company has opened its sixth dispensary in West Michigan with a newly built retail store in Saugatuck Township.

MUSKEGON — Agri-Med LLC’s three dispensaries — which operate as Park Place Provisionary in Muskegon, Edmore Provisionary in Edmore, and Exit 9 Provisionary in Nunica — will be rebranded and operate as New Standard stores under an agreement announced this week. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The city’s first cannabis dispensary has launched a business incubator called Fluresh Accelerator, which aims to increase access and equity in the growing cannabis industry.

State officials are releasing nearly $10 million for more than 100 municipalities across the state that have allowed recreational marijuana dispensaries and microbusinesses.

SAND LAKE — The first cannabis dispensary in Sand Lake is opening Friday to sell exclusively recreational cannabis.

GRAND RAPIDS — Five recreational cannabis dispensaries will be operating in the city of Grand Rapids by Friday morning. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Existing medical cannabis businesses in Grand Rapids can apply months ahead of schedule for licenses to grow, process, transport and sell recreational marijuana. The Grand Rapids City Commission voted unanimously July 7 on a resolution that fast tracks current medical cannabis growers, processors, safety compliance facilities, secure transporters and provisioning centers’ ability to operate in the adult-use side of the cannabis industry.