7 quick hits of cannabis news from across Michigan

By Kyle Kaminski

August 18, 2025

MICHIGAN—Cheap weed, cranky neighbors, cart recalls, and a dispensary caper that sounds like it’s straight out of a low-budget movie. Yep, it’s another week in Michigan cannabis.

Here’s what you might have missed:

HIGH-STAKES HEIST: A cannabis processing facility in Hazel Park turned into a crime scene after armed men reportedly kidnapped a security guard, duct taped him, and rammed their car into the side of the building. Police chased a U-Haul loaded with stolen product into Detroit and arrested two men with about 40 vape cartridges. At least four other suspects are still on the lam.

BAD CARTS: More than 26,000 Motor City Cannacarts and RIPZ vapes are being yanked off shelves at Michigan dispensaries after state regulators found they contained MCT oil, a diluting agent that has been banned in vape products since last year. Anyone who bought the recalled vapes should return or safely dispose of the cartridges—and definitely not smoke them.

LATE-NIGHT TOKES: A newly amended city ordinance in Muskegon now allows dispensary drive-thrus to stay open until 2 a.m. That’s two hours later than the previous midnight cutoff.

TAG TROUBLE: Exclusive in Coldwater got slapped with a $15,500 fine after state regulators reportedly found untagged pre-rolls, gummies, and tinctures behind the counter. The enforcement action was part of a broader sweep that fined 25 cannabis businesses more than $160,000 this summer. Exclusive remains open and licensed, with staff retraining now in place.

NEW PUFFALO: New Buffalo Township is tightening its marijuana zoning ordinances—namely by hiking fines and adding new restrictions on signage and advertising following months of complaints about traffic, safety, and what some call the town’s new identity as “New Puffalo.”

EXIT WOUNDS: Oversupply on the cannabis market is claiming more casualties. At least 37 companies have reportedly failed to renew their licenses so far this year as prices continue to plunge. For many, the math just doesn’t add up in the nation’s cheapest weed market.

SCHOOL ZONE SHAKEUP: City officials in Ann Arbor are rethinking local ordinances that require dispensaries to be a certain distance from schools after one would-be cannabis business was recently blocked from setting up shop near Doughty Montessori School.

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Author

Kyle Kaminski

Kyle Kaminski is an award-winning investigative journalist with more than a decade of experience covering news across Michigan. Prior to joining The ‘Gander, Kyle worked as the managing editor at City Pulse in Lansing and as a reporter for the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

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CATEGORIES: CANNABIS

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