A cannabis industry conference titled MJ Unpacked will take place at MotorCity Casino Hotel in downtown Detroit from Oct. 10-12. The event brings together operators, growers, vendors and investors with an interest in the rapidly expanding legal marijuana industry.
It will be the first time MJ Unpacked has been held in Detroit.
Attendees must be licensed operators or accredited investors, which means the MJ Unpacked Conference at MotorCity Casino Hotel will gather a mix of people who may forge business relationships for expansion in the state. More than 50 speakers are listed on the event website.
The MJ Unpacked event is produced by Jage Media Inc., located in the state of Washington.
MJ Unpacked has had events in several states where cannabis is legal or pending legalization, including Las Vegas and Boston.
Some Michigan tribal nations with casinos exploring cannabis business, too
There is more than just this trade show tying cannabis to casinos in Michigan.
As PlayMichigan reported in May, some Michigan tribal nations that have casino and sports betting operations, are exploring the possibility of expanding into legal cannabis.
The burgeoning multimillion dollar market could provide revenue growth for Michigan tribes. Those groups, flush with money from their gaming operations, could potentially gobble up market share as smaller operators fall out of the market due to oversaturation.
Four tribes with gaming operations in the state have active cannabis operations of some sort:
- Bay Mills Indian Community with its Northern Lights Cannabis Company
- Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians with the Rolling Embers cannabis retail store
- Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, with Beach Fire Cannabis
- Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, which grows and sells legal cannabis through its Lume Cannabis Co. store location in the Upper Peninsula.
Michigan’s marijuana industry booming
Michigan’s marijuana industry is growing rapidly.
July broke records for total marijuana sales ($276 million) in Michigan. That amounted to $8.9 million in sales for every day in July. Of the total, $270 million came from recreational sales.
The industry is reportedly on target to sell $3.3 billion worth of marijuana products in the next 12 months.
According to the State of Michigan, there were 753 active Class-C grower licenses in the state as of the first quarter of 2023. A Class C license permits the license holder “to cultivate a maximum of 1,500 marijuana plants,” while other licensures allow for smaller amounts.
The Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act governs the growth and sale of medicinal marijuana, while the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act regulates commercial growth and sale. So far, the state has seen an oversupply of cannabis product, which las led to low prices for the consumer.
