California dethroned as Michigan now sells more legal weed

California politicians and pot advocates have long bragged that the state is home to the largest legal cannabis market in the world. Gov. Gavin Newsom made the claim twice in the past two months alone. But newly reported data is calling the Golden State’s weed dominance into question.

Michigan now sells more legal cannabis than California, according to data shared with SFGATE by BDSA, a cannabis analytics firm. Michigan sold 22 million cannabis products in March, while California only sold 21.3 million products, according to the firm. Any individual packaging of cannabis, like flower or a vape pen, counts as a product, but user paraphernalia like rolling papers or pipes does not.

BDSA uses point of sale data to calculate overall product sales in both states. While it’s not clear when exactly Michigan surpassed California, the sales numbers from earlier this year are the first time data has been reported showing a state other than California had sold the most cannabis products in America.

California does still bring in more cannabis cash than any other state. California sold $1 billion worth of cannabis in the first three months of 2024, according to the latest state sales figures, which were released last week. Michigan sold $786 million worth of pot during the same period, according to that state’s cannabis regulator. [Read More @ SF Gate]