3 Companies Granted Michigan's First Recreational Marijuana Licenses

Adults in Michigan can score legal weed starting Dec. 1, but their purchases won’t be convenient.

The Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency on Tuesday issued its first five licenses for recreational marijuana — one for each a dispensary, a grower, a processor, a testing facility and an event organizer. Four went to southeast Michigan. One went deep up north.

Forty-eight applicants have pre-qualified for licenses, and the MRA expects to approve about a dozen in total by the end of November.

Want to hear exclusive updates on the adult-use licensing process? Check out the next meetup with MRA Executive Director, Andrew Brisbo on Dec. 18 at the Benzinga Headquarters! Get your tickets here before they sell out!

At the very least, though, Michigan residents can hit the following joints for, well, joints:

Exclusive Brands

The Ann Arbor operation received three licenses for its dispensary, growing and processing facilities. It’s been prepping inventory since the summer in anticipation of a doubling in sales.

"Our waiting list is already a few pages,” owner Omar Hishmeh told the Detroit Free Press. “... People can expect a long line."

PSI Labs

The Ann Arbor safety-compliance facility has been working in medical marijuana since May 2015.

"We were one of the first two testing labs to get a medical license and now we're really excited to be the first testing lab to get a license under adult use," CEO Benjamin Rosman told the Freep.

Real Leaf Solutions

The Kalkaska event organizer expects to pump recreational use anywhere from private events to public festivals.

"I'm honored to have this license and excited to bring cannabis from a private type of use to public events and it seems like the sky is the limit," event organizer Tom Beller said.

All five businesses will expand from exclusively medical operations and have passed background checks and state inspections.