Michigan Report: Cannabis dispensaries are not the primary source for buying cannabis

By Jelena Martinovic

Anderson Economic Group director and CEO Patrick L. Anderson, along with AEG advisor Andrew Miller, testified Tuesday before the Michigan House of Representatives committee on regulatory reform.

The speakers are invited by the chairman of the committee gave testimony of the economics of the Michigan cannabis market. They presented their findings based on AEG’s first study to quantify overall demand for cannabis products in the Great Lake State.

Photo by Michele Ursi / Getty Images

Here are some of the key points from the testimony:

• Michigan, the home state of Benzinga, had a cannabis market of nearly $ 3.2 billion in 2020, with nearly 400 licensed medical care centers and 300 licensed adult retail stores accounting for 16% and 15% of the market size, respectively.
• Approximately 70% of the state’s cannabis use is outside of retail stores, either through home-growing, medical personnel, or illegal transactions, making up the remaining 69% of the market size.
• More than 80% of Michigandans now live within a 20-minute drive of a recreational cannabis store or medical care center, with one in five Michigans reporting cannabis use in 2020.
• In 2020, nearly $ 1 billion in legal sales were reported, and the regulated cannabis industry generated $ 169 million in tax and fee income.

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“Over those six years in Michigan, we’ve seen steady growth in consumer demand for cannabis,” commented AEG advisor Miller. “Although the first medical care centers opened in 2018 and the first adult stores opened in 2019, most of the cannabis in 2020 was sourced outside of retail.”

According to a recent statewide survey conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Public Opinion Strategies and commissioned by the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association (MCMA), over 78% of Michigan residents support the idea that both medicinal and recreational cannabis are subject to the same regulation. including testing, tracking, licensing and security.

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The survey also showed that 82% of respondents are in favor of unlicensed marijuana growers (UMG) having to test their product for pollutants to the same standards as currently licensed growers and processors.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.