As Michigan’s cannabis industry matures, with more cities allowing marijuana businesses and more companies opening dispensaries, grow facilities and other businesses around the state, minority representation remains low.
While there’s no comprehensive data showing exactly how many marijuana licenses are held by Black business owners in Michigan, a recent survey by Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency found that of the 460 medical marijuana licensees who responded, 15 self-identified as Black or African-American, while 19 of the 485 recreational marijuana licensees who responded self-identified as Black or African-American.
The challenges Black entrepreneurs face, such as historically having a harder time accessing loans and capital, can be exacerbated in the cannabis industry by the fact that cannabis is illegal at the federal level, making it even more difficult to get a loan.
Meanwhile, Black people are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people in Michigan, according to a 2020 analysis from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Inspired by Black History Month, the Detroit Free Press reached out to several Black-owned cannabis businesses in February. They range from brands selling cannabis products in dispensaries around the state to cannabis-friendly bed and breakfasts to CBD companies, among others.
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