Breaking news … City in line to receive over $200,000 in marijuana sales

Pleasantrees marijuana dispensary was the first outlet to open in Hamtramck. Eventually there would be a total of four sales outlets here in town.

By Charles Sercombe
The marijuana business is paying off for Hamtramck.
In a press release issued today (Thursday, March 24) by the state Treasury Department, Hamtramck will receive $225,813 from marijuana sales taxes and fees collected for the year 2021.
The total being distributed to the 163 communities and counties in the state that allow marijuana dispensaries to operate is over $42 million.
There are 374 marijuana outlet licenses active in the state, and more than $1.1 billion was reported in 2021 sales from these outlets, the state said.
Also benefiting from this budding industry were the School Aid Fund for K-12 education, which will receive $49.3 million, and the same amount will also go to the Michigan Transportation Fund.
“The Michigan Department of Treasury will distribute these dollars as soon as practical to eligible local units of government,” State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said in the state’s press release. “The doubling of this year’s payment amounts will have a larger impact on local government budgets.”
Hamtramck City Manager Kathy Angerer could not be reached for comment.
Hamtramck is currently in a financial crisis, and is in deficit spending.
While Hamtramck received a welcome boost in yearly revenue, cities that allowed more marijuana outlets will receive more funding from the state.
For example, Ann Arbor currently allows 25 establishments to operate, and that city will receive over $1.4 million in revenue. Hazel Park, just a 10-minute ride north of Hamtramck, has six outlets, and that city will receive over $338,000.
Hazel Park is similar in size to Hamtramck, at about 2.8 square miles, and its population is just over 16,000.
Hamtramck, in comparison, is 2.2 square miles in size with a population of over 28,000.
Like many other communities in the state, there was opposition to allowing cannabis outlets to operate here. Four licenses were granted by the state while the then-city council debated whether to allow them to operate.
The council eventually decided to limit the number of businesses to the existing four that now operate.
Those opposing the businesses were mostly from the city’s majority Muslim communities, who feared there would be an increase in crime, and that marijuana would filter down to minors.
Those fears have not proven true.
The four dispensaries here opened up in buildings that were vacant. In the case of one, Pleasantrees, it renovated a dilapidated former veteran post on Holbrook Ave.

Posted March 24, 2022