Weedmaps, a popular website that advertises both regulated and illicit marijuana sellers, recently announced it would stop allowing advertisements from unlicensed businesses.

“Beginning later this year, US retail advertisers on Weedmaps will be required to provide a state license number on their listing,” the company said in a press release earlier this month.

The company has declined to respond to requests for comment on whether the announcement applies to Weedmaps’ operations in Michigan.

“These enhancements to existing safeguards on our platform will help patients and adult-use consumers find cannabis retailers that have provided evidence of state licensure,” Weedmaps Chief Executive Chris Beals said in the news release. “It also underscores our commitment to working with lawmakers and regulators to foster a flourishing legal market.”

However, if true, the move would be a significant change to the illicit marijuana market in Michigan.

“Currently in Michigan Weedmaps is the gateway to the black market,” said Stuart Carter, owner of Utopia Gardens, a state-licensed medical marijuana provisioning center in Detroit. “There’s no way they can escape that -- they are bad actors in this state and they know it.”

Carter believes he’s lost business to unlicensed delivery drivers. Illegal delivery drivers cruise Michigan streets daily; their activities broadcast for all to see online on Weedmaps. Medical marijuana businesses -- both legitimate and illegitimate -- pay to list their inventory on the site, including Carter.

State officials in charge of licensing medical marijuana businesses and legitimate home delivery drivers won’t comment on Weedmaps, as it’s not an entity they regulate. The Michigan State Police are aware of the illicit activity advertised through the website, but can’t do much with limited resources.

Weedmaps, which is based in California, has tangled with officials there over its operations. The site claims its activities are protected under a section of the Communications Decency Act -- a clause that protects websites like Facebook from being liable for what users post. The state of California issued Weedmaps a cease-and-desist order in 2018, and a new law in California allows regulators to fine unlicensed businesses up to $30,000 a day.

Weedmaps is a member of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association. The group thanked Weedmaps for addressing the issue of unlicensed operators.

“One of the main goals of marijuana legalization in Michigan was to diminish the black market as much as possible, so we very much appreciate Weedmaps doing their part to ensure that businesses using their platform are operating legally,” the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association said in a statement. “We also hope that other advertising platforms will follow this example and remove unlicensed operators from their sites as well.”

Don Bailey, a retired Michigan State Police sergeant who served on the state’s now-defunct Medical Marihuana Licensing Board, said the decision by Weedmaps is a “fantastic improvement” to the state of the illicit cannabis market in Michigan.

“One of the issues with the black market is getting your product to market. When you had and or have had vehicles on social media like Weedmaps, that was a huge boon for them,” Bailey said.

Carter said he supports Weedmaps' transition to advertise only licensed businesses in Michigan -- but isn't assured it will happen.

“They would lose a lot of money, lose a lot of revenue from these unlicensed delivery services,” he said, adding later: “I’ll believe it when I see it."

-- Amy Biolchini is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact her with questions, tips or comments at abiolch1@mlive.com. Read more from MLive about medical and recreational marijuana.