By now you’ve probably heard the news. Yes, Detroit is finally opening up to recreational-use cannabis in early 2021. Applications for would-be operators will be available online beginning on January 19 with licenses being awarded by June according to the report from the Detroit News.
Michigan, which cleared $440 million in its first year of adult-use sales, has seen a run on municipalities opening up for recreational cannabis due in large part to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In the past six months alone, both the affluent Detroit suburb of Royal Oak and Grand Rapids, easily the largest cannabis market in MI to date, opened up for applications. Now with Detroit opening up, expectations for the industry within the Motor City and the state as a whole will be sky high. But before you start cranking the Eight Mile soundtrack on your way to cannabis fortunes, let’s review what you need to know:
Detroit Recreational Cannabis will be for Detroiters
The biggest piece of news from the announcement is that Detroit will be aggressively pushing for Detroiters to receive priority when it comes recreational cannabis licensing issuance. What constitutes a “Detroiter”? Well, according to the city’s “Detroit Legacy” program, being a Detroiter means the following:
- You, normal Joe Six Pack of 123 Michigan Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, will have resided as a full-time resident for 15 of the past 30 years within Detroit proper,
- OR, you are a low-income applicant who has resided within the Motor City proper for 13 of the past 15 years,
- OR, you have lived within Detroit for 10 of the past 30 years and have a marijuana-related conviction.
- For all the above, you must presently live in Detroit.
Qualified Detroit Legacy applicants will receive the benefits of lower application fees (up to a 99% discount of total cost), and lower purchasing prices on city-owned properties (25% of fair market).
Critically, as currently constructed, Detroit’s recreational program would award fully 50% of licenses to Detroiters.
Detroit Recreational Cannabis Licenses (How it all works, people)
The city has taken its time in developing a measured and cohesive plan and that means deliberate assignment of license categories, Detroit will be offering an extensive selection of licenses (including consumption licenses) to apply for.
- 75 Adult-use retailer licenses
- 35 Consumption licenses
- 35 Microbusinesses
For the following license categories there’s no limit:
- Grower
- Processor
- Secured transporter
- Safety compliance facility
- Marijuana event organizer
- Temporary marijuana event
Again, we’re repeating this for emphasis, 50% of all licenses will be awarded to Detroiters as part of the Detroit Legacy mandate.
Detroit Adult-use Cannabis Application Timeline
- January 19, 2021: Online applications are available
- April 1-30, 2021: Submit your application! All applications are due for Detroit Legacy and general applicants with existing medical marijuana license; for general applicants with no pre-existing license: the application deadline is rolling.
- May 1-June 15, 2021: Detroit Legacy applicants are exclusively reviewed
- June 16-July 31, 2021: General applicants with a previous awarded medical license in Michigan will be reviewed
- August 1, 2021: Review process begins for General applicants without previous existing medical license.
If you have questions about Detroit’s adult-use cannabis program, reach out to us today. Several members of the MMLG team are from the greater Detroit area. If there are two things we’re pumped about in 2021 that don’t start with “v” and end in “accine”, it’s Detroit’s program and the new Ford Bronco.