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Detroit’s House of Zen was abuzz with excitement on a cloudy Friday afternoon. Laughs and friendly chatter filled the cozy cannabis dispensary at 14501 Mack Ave. as it began recreational cannabis sales for the first time. Teri Hargrave, who owns and operates the shop with her sister Jacquline Weathersby, comes from behind the counter to greet us with a wide smile.

The Black sisters were born and raised on Detroit’s Eastside and have been in the Cannabis business since 2016.

Hargrave says business at House of Zen began to slow fizzle after recreational cannabis sales were legalized in Michigan in 2018 because people weren’t renewing their medical cards. While many other municipalities successfully passed recreational cannabis ordinances allowing sales, things lagged in Detroit as the city battled lawsuits for trying to put longtime Detroiters first. After a revised ordinance and more lawsuits, we have finally arrived.

“It was just dead for us here in the city, because people could just go to the suburbs and buy with just their license,” she tells us. “We were really struggling for a while and we’re hoping that’s gonna turn around now. We really appreciate the fact that councilman [president pro-tempore James] Tate, the city council, and our mayor made sure that Detroiters had an opportunity in this industry. It’s so important because it gives us a chance for ownership, to build some type of wealth and give back to our communities.”

A judge halted the city’s original ordinance and deemed it “likely unconstitutional” for giving preferential treatment for licenses to longtime Detroiters in 2021. The revised ordinance that was passed in late 2022 resolved the issue by using separate tracks for equity applicants that are actual Detroit residents and non-equity applicants.

Hargrave blasts large companies who held up the process by suing the city, saying outsiders come to Detroit expecting to dominate leaving little room for locals to compete.

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