In this small town in the rural palm of Michigan’s mitt-shaped peninsula, a 250,000-square-foot warehouse produces 300,000 cannabis vape cartridges per month.
Wide doors lead off long hallways into brightly lighted grow rooms with rows of fragrant weed plants at all stages of development. Workers in hairnets bag cannabis gummies while Green Day blasts in the background. A whirring machine fills, twists and trims more than a dozen joints per minute.
The operation is part of the Lume Cannabis Co. empire, which has 1,100 employees and 38 dispensaries across Michigan. According to chief cultivation officer Kevin Kuethe, Lume is the largest company in the country that produces and sells cannabis exclusively within the bounds of a single state. Lume grew 100,000 pounds last year alone.
When Californians voted to legalize recreational cannabis in 2016, businesses like these — and the tax revenue they generate — were supposed to proliferate. Although some companies have succeeded, the state’s weed market is under-performing, beset by competition from illicit operators, steep taxes and what many in the industry describe as overly restrictive regulations.
Michigan, which legalized recreational sales in 2018, surpassed California last year as the largest cannabis market in the country by sales volume, according to industry data made public in June. That is particularly stunning considering California has nearly four times as many residents. [Read More @ The LA Times]