Government officials, dispensary owners look back at 2023 By Art Bukowski | April 13, 2024
After one year of recreational cannabis sales in Traverse City, those involved say it’s been worth the sometimes-bumpy wait.
Many municipalities throughout the state saw recreational cannabis operations up and running not long after Michigan voters first legalized the practice in 2018. It was a different story in Traverse City, where officials hashed (and re-hashed) the finer points of how to roll out rec cannabis for years before dispensaries finally got the green light to sell it in March 2023.
Northern Express connected with officials at the city and within the cannabis community to see how this first year has been, and what’s on the horizon.
City High
City Manager Liz Vogel says the city recently received a roughly $709,000 payment from the state, amounting to about $59,000 for each of a dozen active dispensaries. This comes from a 10 percent excise tax on all recreational cannabis sales in the state in addition to a six percent sales tax. Such payments will come annually to the city based on the number of active operations.
The city initially issued 16 licenses, but three are still in the
