DOUGLAS, Mich. — The city of Douglas is the latest west Michigan city to allow recreational marijuana sales.

Monday night, Douglas City Council unanimously voted to allow adult-use marijuana stores in their city.

The passing of two ordinances came after receiving comments of support from local businesses.

“To have another reason for people to come here, stay here, spend money here, we believe it’s just beneficial for all the businesses in town and we couldn’t support it more,” Saugatuck Brewing Co. General Manager Tiffany Barton said.

“There’s definitely a want for it in the community and people are driving upwards of an hour or hours to be able to purchase,” David Setzke said.

Setzke is the co-owner of Green Koi, a medical marijuana provisioning center, which opened its doors just days before Monday’s vote.

“We’ve been at this process to get this provisioning center open for 2 years, one full year under construction and a previous year of a lot of city council meetings, becoming a part of the community and moving here,” Setzke said.

With adult-use stores now allowed in Douglas, they hope to introduce their upscale yet welcoming provisioning center to a larger demographic and apply for a recreational license with the state.

“We want the opportunity, our customers have shown us that they want the ability to buy safe, tested marijuana rather than using the black market as source,” Setzke added.

The way the ordinance is written now, only retail stores and secure transporters will be allowed.

