Michigan Overtakes California As The Weed Capital of the USA

Before marijuana was legalized in Michigan in 2018, there were two states I would think of when I thought of weed: Colorado and California. Colorado because my cousin lived there and would tell me Stories of how normalized it was there, and California because of all the songs and YouTube videos showing/talking about people smoking. Since Califonia was the first state to allow cannabis back in 1996 legally, it has been the poster child for cannabis...until now.

The numbers don't lie: Michigan is now selling more pot than the Golden State.

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Michigan's Rolling In Green

California has a two-decade head start over Michigan but that has not seemed to damper Michigan's meteoric rise in the cannabis industry. Since weed was legalized in Michigan in 2018, only 6 years ago, Michigan has quickly risen the green ladder to become a giant in the industry having surpassed over $3 billion in sales in 2023.

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No Longer A California King

A report from BDAS, a cannabis analytics firm, has revealed that Michigan now sells more legal cannabis than California. The passing of the torch happened in March when Michigan sold 22 million cannabis products while California sold 21.3 million. This metric is wildly impressive considering California has a population of 39 million vs Michigan's 10 million.

Fuse

While Michigan is now selling more products than California, it should be noted that California is still making more money than Michigan due to weed being cheaper in Michigan than in California, $786 million vs $1 billion this year. Hirsh Jain, a cannabis consultant and advocate, believes this could be because a large portion of Cali's population is still getting cannabis from "illicit" retailers vs legal dispensaries.

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Michigan also benefits from citizens coming from neighboring states where weed is illegal, like Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Though it may not generate a large amount, there sure are a lot of cannabis shops along the borders of MI. You can view a breakdown of these border shops here or below.

Michigan's Border Is A Cannabis Hotspot For Out-of-State Travelers

Michigan was the first state in the Midwest to legalize marijuana and borders three states - Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin - where weed is either illegal or limited, resulting in many people crossing over to get their product from Pure Michigan. Here are the number of stores in these border towns. Population data is from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Gallery Credit: Tommy McNeill