While provisioning centers in Michigan continue to experience a marijuana “shortage,” the black market continues to thrive.
The presence of illegal cannabis events only worsen this situation.
And they’re making life even more challenging for those who have jumped through every hoop to own and operate legal provisioning centers.
Provisioning Center Owner Scopes out Events
When the MRA held their first public opinion forum in Lansing, the owner of a state licensed provisioning center in Ypsilanti was there.
He explicitly told Mr. Brisboe and his cohorts how appalling it was to see the Cannabis Cup Event held in Michigan.
“It was a slap in the face to see the 30,000+ pounds of untested, untaxed, untracked medicine being sold,” he said.
Apparently, his concerns fell on deaf ears.
Over the past two weeks, the Cannabis Cup returned to Michigan – this time in Detroit. But there was also ANOTHER event called Hempcon in Clio.
The dispensary owner attended both events, only to find that there was ZERO enforcement of state laws regulating cannabis sales.
Here is what he encountered:
Cannabis Cup
Of the two events, Cannabis Cup is much larger. It’s a two-day event that could be likened to a marijuana flea market with random vendors populating tents and booths.
According to the provision center owner, there were tens of thousands of people there using and purchasing cannabis products with no limitations on what they could buy.
“I saw licensed products such as midnight roots and MKX being sold at this event. I saw raw cannabis being sold that was twice the quality and half the price when compared to the licensed flower that’s been available to me.”
The irony is doubly cruel given that right now, there is NO flower available to him – of any quality.
“There were over $1 million dollars in sales,” he continued. “I personally know care givers who made over $100,000 a day in tax-free money. And this was a permitted event by the city. The vendors each paid only $150 for a license to sell product for the weekend!”
Meanwhile, over in Clio…
Hempcon
This event was markedly smaller and seemed to attract more people who were looking to purchase large quantities of product.
The dispensary owner noted that most of the patrons there were buying pounds of raw cannabis flower. What’s worse was that they were openly stating how they were going to sell it in their neighborhoods.
While there were some licensed products sold at the event, there was no shortage of ads for illegal delivery services being advertised at this event as well.
Black Market Is Thriving
It’s bad enough that the state is denying these business owners access to medicine for their patients. But that they’re also allowing and turning a blind eye to the illegal and unregulated sales of cannabis at these events is egregious.
“Over the past 4 months I have seen the cannabis black market not only grow bigger, but they are getting much more money for their products now that the state has created such a shortage of product for licensed companies.”
It just shouldn’t be happening this way.
We Must Support the Dispensaries
As cannabis marketing professionals, we firmly believe in the amazing role that dispensaries play in this industry.
That’s why we do what we do.
It saddens us to see the MRA endorsing these illegal cannabis events that make running legal businesses more challenging while further elevating the black market.
We sincerely hope they wake up soon.