🍃 Blunt truths about Detroit’s weed industry

Good morning and happy Friday! 

If you partake, you already know 420 celebrations are just a couple of days away. If you don’t, dispensary ads you may have gotten in your mailbox are certainly a good reminder.

We don’t want to harsh the vibe, but we do want to look back at some of the goals the city set for its 2022 ordinance to allow recreational marijuana sales. Officials said they were focused on helping Detroiters affected by marijuana criminalization build wealth in the industry. So, is that happening?

Read on to see how Black Detroiters in the marijuana industry have been faring since 2022 — and how dispensaries owned by local entrepreneurs are still losing out to bigger chains. 

Thanks for reading,Kiran Saini

Black Detroiters face ownership, financial and real estate obstacles in cannabis industry  by Courtney Wise Randolph 

​​Zoning laws meant to regulate cannabis end up sidelining some Black entrepreneurs in Detroit. Photo credit: Cydni Elledge/Outlier Media

More than 30 years ago, Abdullah Muhammad decided weed wasn’t for him. 

Fast-forward three decades. Recreational marijuana is now legal in Michigan. Detroit passed an ordinance in early 2022 to allow sales in the city, with a focus on helping longtime Detroiters — especially those affected by marijuana criminalization — build wealth through the industry. 

But three years later, it’s not clear those goals are being met. 

This newsletter was written by Courtney Wise Randolph and Kiran, who has been inundated with 420 advertisements all week.

This newsletter is a labor of love from your favorite nonprofit newsroom in Detroit. Donate today to support Outlier’s work.

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