With recreational marijuana introduced locally, the industry is becoming more of an influence in the state’s economy reports WOOD-TV 8.
The state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency shows that prices are falling, while sales are on the rise.
The industry is broken up into two sections: medical and recreational. Medical is more restrictive and requires a special license, but recreational can be sold to anyone over 21.
“The medical market is a lot cheaper than the recreational market,” said Dean St. Peter, co-founder of ArCanna, a cannabis shop in Ionia.
“There’s a lot less taxation too. There’s an additional 10 percent excise tax on recreational cannabis that medical does not have.”
It’s because of the caregiver supply chain, a network of growers that’s been supplying the cannabis centers, which comes to an end on Oct. 1.
After that, prices are expected to go up for a while. But for now, people seem to be enjoying the low prices.
“We have a lot of unemployment right now,” St. Peter said. “People are sitting at home collecting benefits — enhanced benefits, in fact — and they’re enjoying their time at home.”
ArCanna, located off of Beardsley Road in Ionia, expects to start selling recreational marijuana within the next three months.