LANSING, MI -- Michigan’s licensing of medical and recreational marijuana businesses has been a windfall for Lansing’s budget, but not the legal marijuana job market, according to the latest jobs report released by Leafly, a marijuana industry media and technology company.

“Two years ago there were hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries operating in an unlicensed environment," said Leafly Senior Editor Bruce Barcott. "At that time we estimated the number of legal cannabis jobs at roughly the 15,000 level.

“As the state has moved to create a more highly regulated system for both medical and adult-use sales, hundreds of those formerly legal dispensaries (provisioning centers) have either closed or moved into a non-legal existence.”

Since Leafly’s annual jobs count only includes legal jobs, Barcott said Michigan took a “big hit” in 2019, losing an estimated 7,000 legal marijuana industry jobs.

“We now estimate the legal industry supports a little more than 8,200 full-time-equivalent jobs,” Barcott said. "That’s a huge loss -- but consider that we’re still waiting to see legal, licensed cannabis stores open in Detroit, the state’s largest city.

"We expect many of those legal jobs to return as more cities allow licensed stores to open.”

Leafly estimates it may take up to two years to recover the legal marijuana industry jobs lost in 2019.

A court order barred Michigan from shutting down certain unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries that began operating prior to creation of the licensed system. That order expired on Dec. 31, 2018 resulting in the loss of more than 70 previously legal dispensaries.

Slowing the growth of the new recreational market is the decision of Michigan’s largest city, Detroit, and more than 1,400 other Michigan cities, townships and villages, that have banned recreational marijuana business in their communities, at least temporarily.

While the number of municipalities that allow the commercial market is limited, the businesses are proliferating where they’re able to.

Ann Arbor alone has issued 35 medical and recreational business licenses.

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As of this week, there were 512 active marijuana licenses, including 436 medical and 76 recreational, compared to Jan. 1, at which time there were 377 medical and 50 recreational, according to Marijuana Regulatory Agency data.

The number of retail locations increased from 26 to 43, by 40%, between Dec. 31 and Feb. 5 and those locations have made nearly $18 million in sales over nine weeks since recreational sales began on Dec. 1. Through excise and sales taxes from recreational sales alone, Michigan generated nearly $3 million in tax revenue over that period.

At maturity, which could take several years, the state budget office and Leafly project Michigan’s recreational marijuana industry could reach between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in sales annually.

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The Leafly report, using data tracked by states with medical or recreational marijuana, estimates there were 243,700 full-time jobs in the industry nationally as of January.

“That’s a 15% year-over-year increase,” the report said. “Over the past 12 months the expanding industry has created 33,700 new jobs nationwide, making legal marijuana the fastest-growing industry in America.”

The Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency does not currently track the number of jobs provided by the industry, spokesman David Harns said.

The below map, which MLive is updating as new licenses are issued, includes all known licensed retail marijuana stores in the state:

-- Gus Burns is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact him with questions, tips or comments at fburns@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, @GusBurns. Read more from MLive about medical and recreational marijuana.

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