The news of Green Peak Industries, which operates under the brand name Skymint and went into receivership earlier this month is the most notable of Michigan companies in receivership – at least four other well-known companies are struggling.
According to Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency data obtained by the Detroit Free Press. Receivership is a process in which a receiver steps in and runs a company so that creditors can recover the money they’re owed. Marijuana companies cannot declare bankruptcy because that is a federal process and marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
Meanwhile, companies headquartered in other states that expanded to Michigan, like Terrapin – a Colorado-based cannabis company with operations around the US, including a cultivation facility in Grand Rapids — shut down its Michigan operations. Others, like the Boston-based marijuana delivery service Lantern, which expanded to Michigan and offered customers a platform to order recreational cannabis for delivery, like they would food through a system such as Grubhub or DoorDash, shut down its services in several cities, including Detroit, earlier this year.
It’s difficult to track how many cannabis companies are in Michigan and which companies have gone out of business because there’s no complete data.
The industry is still expanding as more cities around the state decide to allow cannabis businesses within their borders. There are 25% more active marijuana licenses (one company can hold multiple licenses) than there were a year ago, according to February data from the CRA. There were 3,167 active marijuana licenses in February 2023 versus 2,527 in the same month a year ago.
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