Plan would mandate half of pot businesses in Detroit for residents

The city is working on a law to ensure that at least half of the licensed recreational marijuana businesses operating in Detroit are owned by residents.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is expected to detail the proposal before an invitation-only crowd during his seventh State of the City address on Tuesday evening inside Flex-N-Gate, an east side auto parts manufacturing plant.

The second-term mayor has collaborated with Detroit City Councilman James Tate on a component of an ordinance focused on equity in Detroit’s marijuana industry and rules for how recreational pot shops will operate.

“Our position is going to be that we will approve recreational marijuana being sold in Detroit only under an ordinance where half of the businesses are owned by Detroiters,” Duggan told The Detroit News in a Monday interview.

“I’m sure it’s going to cause some anxiety. But the fact of the matter is, if we sit by and do nothing, we’re going to wake up in three years and 90% of the wealth created by this industry will flow outside the city.”

Voters in Detroit and across the state approved a ballot proposal in November 2018 to legalize adult-use of recreational marijuana. [Read more at The Detroit News]