Michigan: Disappointing Social Equity Program, Cannabis Poisoning Among Children, Marijuana Sales Strong

Despite efforts to inspire change and fariness in the community, it seems that Michigan's marijuana social equity program is failing to fulfill that purpose.

Crain's Detroit's Dustin Walsh recently pointed out that in three years since recreational cannabis has been legal in the Great Lake State, only 155 social equity applicants have received licenses out of approximately 3,100 issued to date.

Furthermore, he questioned the criteria for selecting equity applicants eligible to obtain up to a 75% discount on state application and license fees, which range between $1,000 and $24,000 per license.

To qualify, an applicant must meet one of the following three criteria:

• To spend five cumulative years living in a community disproportionately impacted by marijuana laws (25% reduction in fees).
• To have a conviction for a marijuana-related offense (25% reduction in fees for a misdemeanor, 40% reduction for a felony).
• To be registered as a primary caregiver under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act for at least two years between 2008 and 2017 (10% reduction in fees).

"The reality is fee discounts don't do much in terms of getting applicants across the finish line to opening a cultivation or retail operation," Walsh wrote, referring to the high costs of all the ancillary equipment that operators need to have to operate a cannabis business.

Another issue is cannabis flower prices which collapsed to $102.65 per ounce.

"Any new entrant in the market needs deep, deep pockets to survive rapid consolidation and failures plaguing the industry right now," Walsh added.

Marijuana Sales Still Strong Despite Slight Decrease In November

Meanwhile, it seems that demand for cannabis continues to rise in Michigan, with sales spiking 33.2% to $203.4 million in November, compared to the corresponding month of 2021.

So far, November sales represent the largest year-over-year growth since February, even though the state's cannabis sales dipped by an additional 2.9% compared to October to $203.4 million, reported New Cannabis Ventures.

Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency's data pointed to a 57.5% year-over-year and 9.9% sequential drop in medical cannabis sales to $13.6 million. Recreational marijuana sales spiked 57.2% year-over-year to $189.8 million.

Flower sales continue to dominate as a most-sold product category, with $6.45 million worth of products sold in November, followed by vape cartridges and edibles.

Cannabis Poisonings Among Children On Rise

Dr. Varun Vorah, director of the Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center, recently said there was an alarming trend of increased pediatric exposures to cannabis and abuse of edibles and vapes, reported WXYZ.

He emphasized that edibles tend to be quite an issue with young children.

"That's another big thing with the packaging, right? So, they can look like candy, they can often taste like candy. They're infused in different snack foods," Vorah said.

On the other hand, teens are more prone to using vapes.

"So they do run into the risk of toxicity and adverse effects because it doesn't take as much to cause those effects," Vorah added.

Vorah's warning builds on recent findings published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, which revealed a 245% rise in pediatric abuse and misuse of cannabis from 2000 to 2020.

Last year, Vorah's agency received around 445 calls about pediatric marijuana exposures, and this year's data is proof of a rising trend.

"In 2022, we already surpassed that number up until October," Vorah said. "So clearly, it's still occurring. It's still an issue."

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