The only thing stopping a new 24% wholesale tax from being levied on Michigan’s cannabis cultivators and manufacturers starting in 2026 is the possibility of a court injunction.
The tax measure was included in Michigan’s $81 billion state budget that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Oct. 7, four days after the state Senate narrowly passed the cannabis tax provision, 19-17, as a mechanism to help fund the governor’s $1.8 billion funding plan to improve roads, bridges and other aging infrastructure.
“Big news, Michigan. I signed my seventh balanced bipartisan budget,” Whitmer said. “And here’s what it means for you: safer, smoother roads to drive on, thanks to the biggest roads deal in Michigan history.”
The new cannabis tax is projected to provide an additional $420.7 million per year in state revenue, according to a fiscal analysis from the Legislature.
Articles covering this developing storyline took the top two spots in Cannabis Business Times’ most-read articles for October, a readers did not want to miss out on the potential ramifications for the nation’s second-largest cannabis market.
While the new 24% wholesale tax is set to take effect Jan. 1, the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association (MiCIA) filed a lawsuit on Oct. 7, arguing that it’s unconstitutional for the Legislature to change the state’s citizen-initiated statute from 2018, which legalized adult-use cannabis, without gaining a three-fourths majority vote in both chambers.
Taking the No. 3 spot in CBT’s most-read articles this month was a story on Sara Carter, President Donald Trump’s nomination to be the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), side-stepping questions on her cannabis policy from Senate Judiciary Committee members.
“If confirmed as director, I will comply with all federal laws and fulfil all statutory responsibilities of the ONDCP,” she said. “I will also work with the interagency to ensure an examination of all facts and evidence as part of any scheduling or policy actions.”
Also landing in October’s Top 10 were stories on the government shutdown’s impact on cannabis policy reform; 39 state and territorial attorneys general sending a letter asking U.S. congressional leaders to ban hemp-derived THC products; and a prohibitionist campaign’s update on its signature collection to overturn Massachusetts’ adult-use legalization measure from 2016.
Don’t miss out on the rest of our Top 10 stories from October 2025.
