Michigan’s cannabis industry has become one of the largest in the nation. Last year alone, people here bought over $3 billion worth of legal weed, second only to California.

Now, the state wants to take that success and pave roads with it. State lawmakers just passed a new 24 percent wholesale tax in the state budget, set to begin in January. It will raise an estimated $420 million a year for transportation projects.

Supporters call it smart budgeting, “pot for potholes.” But others see a troubling shift: a young industry, still finding its footing, being asked to carry the weight of Michigan’s infrastructure.

The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association is taking the debate to court. It has filed a complaint arguing the new wholesale tax unlawfully alters a voter-initiated cannabis law under the state constitution.

Underlying inequalities

There is also a deeper tension. For decades, Black people in Michigan were nearly four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people.

When voters approved the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2018, it came with a promise: that the people most harmed by prohibition would share in the new prosperity.

This new tax could test that promise if higher costs push small, Black- and brown-owned businesses out of the market.

So today, The Metro explores these tensions and concerns through the perspective of people in the cannabis industry.

First, we hear from Jamie Lowell, a longtime cannabis advocate. He’ll help us step back and learn: how does Michigan’s market compare with other states?

Then we turn to Al Williams, owner of DaCut dispensaries, and president of the Detroit Cannabis Industry Association.