MICHIGAN—The cannabis industry is still struggling, a murder case has reached a conclusion, and one company wants a developer to turn its weed processing facility into a data center.
Spark up and catch up here:
MEDICAL MAKEOVER: Michigan’s cannabis industry is in such rough shape that some industry insiders are now floating a wild new idea to help save it: convert the state’s entire recreational market into a medical one to unlock new federal tax benefits. The only catch? Customers would probably need a medical card to keep buying weed at the dispensary.
SMOKE SOVEREIGNTY: Native American tribes opened a record number of dispensaries in 2025, with 93 tribally owned retail outlets now operating across 10 states. Michigan is part of that wave; Rolling Embers’ dispensary-lounge combo in New Buffalo is a prime example.
SERVER FARM: Harbor Farmz has decided Big Tech looks better than the weed business right now. The cannabis company is selling its 32,000-square-foot processing facility and actively pitching it as the future home of a data center—namely because of its existing electrical infrastructure. Whether the surrounding community signs off is another question entirely.
LIFE SENTENCE: Four Ohio men were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Sam Simko, a Pontiac cannabis business owner who was shot and killed during an attempted robbery at his store last year. Prosecutors say the men met Simko at a cannabis festival in Ann Arbor, where they hatched a plan to steal upwards of 50 pounds of marijuana from his business.
ICYMI: If you missed last week’s newsletter, I took a deep dive into Michigan’s controversial new wholesale cannabis tax, how it’s already falling way short of state projections, and what it could mean for the roads it was supposed to fix. Read the full story here.
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