MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Northern Michigan University held a cannabis education conference on Tuesday, April 25th, and discussed industry problems, solutions, and even growth in the product itself. The cannabis industry in Michigan has faced many challenges since the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act was signed in 2008. Attorney Douglas Mains commented that laws have been revised, but that demand for the product remains a worry for companies within the industry.
“The problem is it’s being outstripped by the supply that’s coming in, so margins are very thin and really causing businesses across the supply train to struggle,” said Mains.
The price of adult-use marijuana has dipped from around $500 down to around $80 per ounce of cannabis. Just in six months of this fiscal year, the cannabis industry has already reached above 1.2 billion dollars in sales and is predicted to exceed last year’s number of 1.8 billion dollars. “We’re looking at about 1.2 billion in sales that we’ve seen already, so on pace probably for 2.4-2.5 billion this year in adult use sales,” continued Mains.
The Cannabis Education conference was about more than just the legality and monetary value of the industry in the state, but also streamlining what’s taught in Universities to what is practiced in the business. “When we started the medicinal plant chemistry program some five or six years ago the industry was really nascent in fact it hadn’t even been legal in Michigan and it was then and is still pretty much the wild west,” said Associate Provost of Extended Learning Steve Vandenavond.
Owner of Firestation Cannabis, Stosh Wasik noted the cannabis conferences do more than just educate students, but help break the stigma of working in cannabis. “It’s a snowball rolling downhill and it’s great to see things like this and the more and more we see things like this the more accepted it’s gonna be,” continued Stosh.
The industry is predicted to rise above 2 billion dollars in the 22-23 fiscal year, and officials commented the new question isn’t around the money flowing in, but on how to go about capitalizing on the opportunity the cannabis business presents.
Click here for more information on the Great Lakes Cannabis Conference. Click here for more details on the Medical Plant Chemistry degree at Northern Michigan University.
