Some Michiganders have access to a lot of great weed.
Amanda*, a 45-year-old single mother in a rural area who uses cannabis to treat anxiety, would love to buy from a licensed dealer, but “visiting one would require me to drive farther away, which would mean more time, money, and planning.
“There are vast areas of the state without any dispensaries, and then there are areas that are highly concentrated with dispensaries, such as Washtenaw County,” says Michigan State University epidemiologist Kipling Bohnert, who studies substance use and abuse.
Notably, in November, the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency recalled 64,000 pounds of flower, worth some $230 million because of problematic, possibly misleading test results.
“It is extremely expensive to get into , and there are a lot of agencies that have a lot of oversight over your whole operation from day one until you’re fully licensed,” says Joe*, a 31-year-old pot dealer.
The legal system intends to give the public more confidence in the product, but a lot of cannabis users trust their longtime illegal dealers more.
Some people believe the playing field will level out once the state’s market matures and prices come down.
At the moment, the testing problems are creating uncertainty and mistrust that need to be corrected, says attorney Matthew Abel, founder of the Cannabis Counsel law firm in Detroit, who served on the drafting committee for the pot legalization statute.