Michigan’s Legal Marijuana Market Is Poised To Surpass $10 Billion In Total Recreational Sales By Year’s End

Michigan’s marijuana retailers are on pace to hit a major milestone later this year, with $10 billion worth of recreational cannabis products sold since the state’s adult-use market opened in 2019.

It’s possible the state has already hit the $10 billion mark, according to the nonprofit news outlet Bridge Michigan, which first reported that the state is likely to hit the figure this year. Sales numbers from the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency (MCRA) are not updated in real time, but judging from past sales numbers, retailers are likely to pass $10 billion in adult-use product sales in the next few weeks if they haven’t already.

At the end of October, state-licensed retailers had sold about $9.7 billion worth of recreational marijuana products altogether since the launch of the market. Given that monthly sales have averaged about $279 million, a strong November could put the state past $10 billion in total sales. Those figures don’t account for sales in the separate medical cannabis market.

While the cumulative sales number continues to grow, however, it’s doing so at a slower pace these days. Year-over-year sales by dollar amount actually fell this past October, Bridge Michigan notes, from $118 million in 2023 to $116.5 million this past October.

Falling prices, in part due to increased cannabis production, could be one factor, officials said. The average price of an ounce of marijuana flower has fallen from around $400 in 2020 to about $75 in 2024.

“Michigan has more marijuana grow licenses—and therefore more marijuana product—in the market than ever before,” an MCRA spokesperson said in an email to Bridge Michigan.

Beau Whitney, chief economist for the National Industrial Hemp Council of America, told the outlet that the falling prices are a “good thing for consumers” but could make business harder for retailers, who he said often already struggle to turn a profit.

Despite dropping prices and at least some slowdown in sales by dollar amount, Michigan nevertheless set a few monthly sales records in 2024, hitting nearly $289 million in March and more than $295 million in August.

Earlier this year state officials also announced plans to distribute a new batch of more than $290 million in marijuana tax revenue to localities, public schools and a transportation fund. A total of 269 municipalities received $87 million, while education and transportation efforts got $101.6 million.

That represented a substantial increase in cannabis tax-funded disbursements that are required under the state’s adult-use legalization law. In 2022, Michigan distributed about $150 million total to the three funding buckets, for example.

That funding increase was made possible from tax revenue collected from legal marijuana sales in the state, which totaled more than $3 billion in 2023.

State officials said in November of last year that tax revenue from legal marijuana grew by 49 percent compared to 2022, surpassing the amount of revenue made from alcohol sales. Marijuana sales incur a 10 percent excise tax—among the lowest rates in the nation—as well as a 6 percent state sales tax.

Also, late last year, CRA announced the launch of a new social equity grant program that will award $1 million to eligible marijuana businesses for education, business needs or community reinvestment.

Elsewhere in Michigan’s legal cannabis landscape, a change approved by the state Civil Service Commission took effect in October 2023 to end pre-employment marijuana testing for most government employees. The shift also gave people who’ve already been penalized over positive THC tests an opportunity to have the sanction retroactively rescinded.

That same month, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed a pair of bills into law to allow state-licensed marijuana businesses to conduct trade with tribal cannabis entities. Both took effect immediately.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce said in January that a rash of recent break-ins at legal marijuana retailers in the state underscores the need for federal cannabis banking reform, which the group says would reduce the risks of theft and fraud that stem from the industry’s current reliance on cash.

Also this year, lawmakers took steps to align the state’s medical marijuana regulations with the adult-use market.

Separately, a bill introduced in September would clear the way for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to legally possess and use psychedelic mushrooms.

Sponsored by Rep. Mike McFall (D), HB 5980 would legalize possession of up to two ounces of “a substance that contains psilocybin” provided a person is 18 or older and has a medical record “that demonstrates the individual has a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.” The change would also apply to substances containing psilocin, another psychoactive chemical found in mushrooms.

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