Adult-use cannabis sales totals in Michigan declined for a fourth consecutive month in May, according to state Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) data outlined by the Detroit Metro Times. Between January and May, adult-use dispensaries in the state sold $1.31 billion worth of products, down from $1.34 billion from the same period last year. 

It marks the Michigan cannabis industry’s first year-over-year decline since adult-use sales began in the state in December 2019. 

The downturn is likely caused by oversupply – state data shows that dispensaries held more than 160,000 pounds of flower in April, up from 143,300 pounds the prior year – which is leading to lower prices for consumers. In May, the average price of an ounce of flower was $63, compared to $88 a year prior. When adult-use sales began in 2019, the average price for an ounce of flower was more than $500.  

In turn, consumers are buying more product at dispensaries. In May, retailers sold about 20% more flower, concentrates, vape cartridges, kief, edibles, and shake, despite reporting lower sales totals. 

In April, state lawmakers held a hearing about whether to impose a moratorium on new cannabis cultivators, during which Brian Hanna, director of the CRA, told the panel that without changes, the industry is “going to see consolidation.”    

“You’re going to see small businesses going out of business. You’re going to see bigger buying out smaller,” she said, according to a Metro Times report. “You’re going to see lesser variety. You’re going to see social equity businesses suffer along with those businesses.”  

However, under current state law, the CRA is required to issue licenses to applicants that meet the criteria, and lawmakers have not passed any moratorium.    

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) has vetoed a bill that would have allowed the state’s tribal nations and the governor’s office to establish compacts to legalize and regulate cannabis on individual reservations. In a letter to Speak of the House Brandon Ler (R) and Senate President Matt Regier (R), Gianforte described the legislation as “unnecessary and duplicative.” 

In May, Jeffry Stiffarm, president of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, sent a letter to Gianforte requesting that he veto the bill, saying it undermines “the sovereign rights” of the Tribe by “conditioning the exercise of tribal regulatory on state approval, mandating state control over cannabis licensing and revenue sharing, and imposing frameworks that treat tribes as subordinate entities rather than equal sovereign governments.”    

“We believe tribal-state compacts regarding cannabis, gaming, taxation, and other issues must be negotiated on a government-to-government basis, with voluntary participation and respect for tribal sovereignty at the forefront.” — Stiffarm in a letter to Gianforte  

Gianforte echoed sentiments outlined in Stiffarm’s letter, saying in addition to the state already having “over 400 agreements with Montana’s eight tribal nations addressing a broad scope of matters” – including cannabis regulation – he was concerned about the proposal’s “potential impact on tribal sovereignty and self-determination as well as the government-to-government relationship” between the state and tribal nations.  

The bill, Gianforte concluded, “may constrain the scope and flexibility of negotiations, introduce unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, and impose State priorities on tribal nations,” and “interfere with the ability of both parties to engage in open, meaningful, and equal negotiations as sovereigns, potentially weakening cooperation and collaboration.”