Black market battles, plummeting prices: a look at Michigan marijuana in 2022

It’s been a great year for Michigan marijuana customers, who are paying less than ever for increasingly potent cannabis.

As of November, the average retail cost for an ounce of marijuana had dropped to a record low of $95 with some strains dipping to near $60 an ounce in retail stores.

It’s also been a healthy year for the industry as a whole. Retail Michigan marijuana sales are currently on track to surpass $2 billion in annual revenue by year end.

But the year has presented struggles for others, including businesses facing shrinking profit margins as prices plummet and state regulators engaged in a seemingly insurmountable battle with the long-entrenched black market.

Here’s a look back at highlights from the year in Michigan marijuana with a glimpse forward to 2023.

New leadership

More than half way through the year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made a significant leadership change in August, replacing departing former Cannabis Regulatory Agency Director Andrew Brisbo, who helped launch the recreational marijuana in December 2019, with Director Brian Hanna.

Hanna, who has a law enforcement and investigations background, was named the “acting director” in September and elevated to the full-fledged agency director on Dec. 2. He made it well known that he wanted to step up enforcement of illicit marijuana making its way into the regulated market.

[Read more at MLive.com]