Last month, voters in four upscale metro Detroit communities — Grosse Pointe Park, Keego Harbor, Rochester and Birmingham — said no to allowing recreational marijuana sales in their communities.
The election results were a blow to proponents of recreational marijuana in Michigan who say recreational marijuana still isn’t accessible to all metro Detroit residents because dispensaries are mostly concentrated in the suburbs near Detroit and far and few between in the outer suburbs.
hese proponents, though, acknowledge that there’s still a lot of NIMBY(not in my backyard) associated with cannabis even though Michigan residents voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2018. Fewer than 10% of Michigan municipalities allow recreational marijuana businesses, according to the most recent data from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency.
There is a divide between the wealthier metro Detroit communities, many of whom say they don’t need the economic development and tax revenue from cannabis businesses and communities that have older blighted buildings or areas that are a little more distressed, Denise Pollicella, founder and managing partner of the Cannabis Attorneys of Michigan, said in an interview earlier this year.
Michele Hodges, mayor of Grosse Pointe Park, told Bridge Magazine after the votes had been tallied: “In our community we feel we can do better.” Hodges added that cannabis is easily accessible and can be delivered.
Allowing cannabis sales can also come with potential lawsuits from prospective and current licensees, Pollicella said. Detroit, for example, faced several lawsuits as it set up its recreational marijuana ordinance, delaying the start of recreational marijuana sales for years. Even after sales have started, Detroit faces another lawsuit, this time over the location of a marijuana facility near a school.
“I think that is what has kept municipalities who actually were seriously considering this from opting in sooner because of the absolute barrage of lawsuits,” she said. She said that’s winding down now, though, and there are ways for municipalities to avoid getting sued, mainly by avoiding putting a cap on the number of licenses available.
Those more than 1,300 communities around the state that have opted out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses won’t receive the tax revenue from the sale of marijuana products, which are taxed at 10%. Last year, communities with recreational marijuana dispensaries or microbusinesses received nearly $52,000 per retailer.
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