DETROIT (AP) — While recreational marijuana sales in Michigan are expected to initially rocket, a public policy organization warns that legal pot is an unpredictable revenue source.
Investors at the Capital Cannabis Conference in Detroit forecast Michigan's market could exceed $2 billion. But a Pew Charitable Trusts study released Aug. 19 says taxes and the black market could upset revenue goals.
The study cites high taxes in California as a reason the black market there has continued to thrive and the legal pot market has not met revenue expectations. A Michigan Cannabis Business Association representative says the ballot proposal to legalize marijuana in Michigan set tax rates low for that reason.
Michigan's market for legal recreational marijuana should open by early 2020.