Michigan Senators Weigh Marijuana Regulatory Reform Bills To Aid Industry Reeling From New Tax Increase

Michigan marijuana tax increase is the shot everyone swore they wanted—until the burn hit and the room went quiet. Two weeks after lawmakers moved to slap a 24 percent levy on wholesale marijuana, the Michigan Senate’s Regulatory Affairs Committee dragged the ashtray back to the center of the table and started talking about relief. Not handouts. Structure. Predictability. The kind of cannabis taxation tweaks and rulebook rewrites that could steady an industry wobbling from oversupply, razor-thin margins, and a flood of unregulated intoxicating hemp. If this sounds like policy reform by the glow of a neon “Open” sign at midnight, that’s because it is: gritty, imperfect, but necessary for a Michigan cannabis market trying to grow up without losing its soul.

Licenses on a diet, hemp out of the shadows

Committee Chair Jeremy Moss set the tone: the bills on deck are meant to reduce regulatory friction while drawing a hard line around intoxicating products. Sen. Sam Singh pitched Senate Bills 597 and 598 as the retail reality check—capping licenses for marijuana retailers and wholesalers to one per 10,000 residents per municipality starting January 1, 2026, with smaller towns guaranteed at least one license. Think of it as the liquor model for a market that sprinted past go and forgot to pace itself. Meanwhile, Sen. Dayna Polehanki walked the panel through Senate Bills 599–602, a long-overdue framework for consumable hemp—because Michigan gas stations shouldn’t be the Wild West of Delta-8 and mystery vapes. Here’s the gist, stripped to the studs:

• One license per 10,000 residents for marijuana retailers/provisioners, with at least one license in communities under 10,000.
• Existing licensees can renew or transfer, providing continuity and business planning stability.
• Consumable hemp gets guardrails—testing, labeling, age-gating—especially for intoxicating hemp derivatives like Delta-8.
• Nonconsumable hemp (textiles, building materials) gets deregulated to cut out needless paperwork.

Hemp’s gray market and the lab report you don’t want to read

The Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) didn’t mince words. Derek Sova said the focus should be on whether a product intoxicates—not whether we call it hemp or marijuana. The 2018 farm bill cracked the door by defining hemp as cannabis under 0.3 percent delta-9 THC; unscrupulous actors kicked it open by converting CBD into THC analogs and selling them anywhere that still stocks windshield wipes and jerky. No testing. No labels. No age checks. You don’t need to be a lab rat to see the problem, but Kairos Labs did the science anyway. Director Kyleigh Cumming tested 15 vape products bought across Southeast Michigan: every sample dirty with contaminants, every one above the federal THC threshold, and not a single clerk asked for an ID. That’s not a market; it’s a roulette wheel. Training and enforcement matter here, the same way they matter when police figure out what impairment looks like in the real world—see the sideways humor and public-health utility of Maryland Police Get ‘Overwhelming’ Number Of Volunteers To Smoke Marijuana And Eat Free Lunch At DUI Training For Officers. Michigan’s bill package won’t fix everything, but it draws a line between responsible commerce and a wink-and-nod gray market that undermines legitimate operators.

Retail reality and the people caught between

Robin Schneider of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association brought the industry’s bruises to the microphone: unlimited cultivation licenses led to a glut; the glut cratered wholesale prices; the crater rippled down the supply chain. On Main Street, too many storefronts became a new public-nuisance trope in some towns, feeding the backlash loop. Schneider asked for stability and predictability—so operators can plan, invest, and survive. Her plea landed like a bartender’s last call: clear, necessary, and overdue.

“Our members are asking this committee to assist our industry in creating market stability and thoughtful and collaborative industry planning moving forward.”

Detroit’s cannabis czar, Kimberly James, wanted sharper teeth for locals to shut down unlicensed intoxicating hemp sellers, because rules without enforcement are just vibes. Polehanki promised fixes. Out in the fields, hemp growers pressed for sanity on the 0.3 percent THC cap—iHemp Michigan’s Blain Becktold pointed to a push for 1 percent to keep crops from going “hot” and getting trashed. And consumers? Cassin Coleman flagged a quiet truth: full-spectrum CBD often carries trace THC by design; chelating the plant to make it pretty on paper can strip the compounds people rely on. It’s a policy puzzle with real-world stakes, a reminder echoing research that keeps stacking up, like Legalizing Marijuana Helps Cancer Patients Reduce Opioid Use, Federally Funded Study Published By AMA Indicates.

The politics: crowded rooms, thin margins, and a moving target

Michigan’s debate isn’t happening in a vacuum. States are tuning the dials in real time—catching bad actors, right-sizing retail, and building regulatory bodies with enough spine to matter. In Harrisburg, lawmakers are inching toward a sturdier framework with a bipartisan vote on a new statewide regulator, the kind of proof-of-life that suggests a mature market might be possible if grown-ups keep the pen: Pennsylvania Senators Will Vote On Bipartisan Cannabis Bill To Create New Regulatory Body Next Week. In New York, the culture clash over licensed versus illicit retail has been playing out on debate stages and street corners, asking whether political leaders even understand the compliance labyrinth they wrote, as highlighted by NYC Mayoral Candidates Reveal Whether They’ve Purchased Marijuana From Licensed Shops During Contentious Debate. Michigan’s mix of a new wholesale tax, license caps, hemp guardrails, and local enforcement authority could become a blueprint—or a cautionary tale. The difference will come down to execution: smart timelines, clear rules, and data that shape policy instead of posturing that chases headlines.

So where does that leave us after the Michigan marijuana tax increase? Somewhere in the messy middle, where simple narratives go to die and hard choices finally get made. Cap the licenses, yes—but don’t lock out small operators or let market power calcify. Regulate intoxicating hemp with lab-tested rigor—while freeing nonconsumable hemp to do its textile-and-building-material thing without a bureaucratic chokehold. Give local governments real tools to shut down bad actors, but pair that with clear state standards so good actors aren’t guessing. And keep one eye on the patient who needs full-spectrum relief, the farmer praying their crop doesn’t tip hot, and the retailer trying to make rent in February. It’s not pretty policy. It’s grown-up policy. If you’re ready to explore compliant, high-quality options shaped by this evolving landscape, finish your night the right way and visit our shop: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.