Detroit finally awards first recreational marijuana license to grower

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Detroit finally issued its first recreational marijuana business license – more than two years after the process started.

Doghouse Farms, a grow operation on Detroit’s east side, received the license and soon will be selling marijuana on the recreational market, Crain’s Detroit Business reported.

The business invested roughly $4 million in a 25,000-square-foot cultivation facility that it hoped would be able to grow for the adult-use market long before this.

Michigan launched recreational marijuana sales in December 2019, but the Detroit City Council didn’t approve its final recreational marijuana ordinance until last month.

The process was delayed after a federal court ruled that the municipality’s initial law was “likely unconstitutional” because it favored local residents.

So Doghouse has been selling medical cannabis under the MMJ program for the past 15 months, according to Crain’s.

“A (recreational license) is the only reason we came to Detroit,” Doghouse CEO Eric Slutzky told Crain’s.

“The city taking this long really cut the knees out of the local market, but we had faith the city would do the right thing.”

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Detroit is allowing an unlimited number of growers and 100 retail stores, with half of the stores reserved for social equity applicants.

Doghouse grows cannabis in Oregon and Washington state in addition to Michigan, with an operation soon coming to Florida, according to the company’s website.