There’s a lot on the ballot this year. I’d like to add one more thing to it.

We haven’t asked Michiganders to vote on the state’s best weed brands since 2023, and the market has shifted dramatically since then—for better and worse. So, we want to hear from you. 

Plus, that Flock camera finally came down in Madison Heights, a Kalamazoo company is recalling something called “Hulk Juice,” older adults are getting higher than ever, and a $4 million dispensary, lounge, and restaurant is opening its doors in Muskegon.

Roll one up and make some decisions. 

Michiganders are going to decide a lot of shit this year. 

We’ll elect a new governor, a new member of the US Senate, and fill a long list of offices that many folks won’t even think about until they’re filling out their ballot in November. 

So, in the spirit of making up your mind, I have one more question to add into the mix this week: Which brands are growing the best weed in Michigan?

We last ran this poll in 2023, and a lot has changed. So we’re doing it again—and leaving it to the people who know best. Fill out your ballot below. The contest closes at the end of September. 

CIVIC DUTY: Need help sorting out the candidates on your actual ballot this year? I got your back. I also cover politics for The ‘Gander. And I just helped put together a comprehensive voter hub that covers all the biggest names and issues in this year’s midterm elections. 

BIRD DOWN: Madison Heights and JARS reached a settlement that removes the Flock license plate reader the city had required at the dispensary’s parking lot entrance. Still, another Flock camera sits about 50 yards away—though that one faces the street rather than the parking lot.

HULK SMASH: Season 3, a Kalamazoo company, is voluntarily recalling nine flavors of “Nuggz Nectar” infused drinks—including one called “Hulk Juice”—after testing suggested they may exceed the state’s THC limits. No adverse reactions have been reported. The drinks were sold at four Great Lakes Holistics stores in Muskegon, Lansing, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo. 

GRAY MARKET: More than one in five adults between 55 and 65 years old have used cannabis in the past year, according to new federal survey data compiled by the University of Michigan. That marks the highest share that age group has ever reported. About 15% of baby boomers surveyed also said they had used a cannabis product sometime within the last 30 days. 

GREENING OUT: Steven Kekelik of IndiGrow in Muskegon—who was featured here a few weeks ago—is pushing back on a new CDC report about Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, the cycles of severe nausea and vomiting reportedly tied to heavy cannabis use. Kekelik suspects the real culprit is the unregulated hemp stuff being sold online and at gas stations and is calling for federal cannabis legalization so that somebody can actually study the issue. 

PANDER BEAR: Republican gubernatorial candidate John James opposed legalizing weed in Michigan. Now he’s promising to reduce the state’s 24% wholesale tax—a pitch aimed squarely at the same stoners whose votes he didn’t want in 2018. NORML still gives him a D-.

CAPPED OFF: Menominee is getting sued again over its nine-dispensary cap. JGB Holdings—the parent company of Levels Cannabis and Wild Bill’s Tobacco—filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming the city promised it a retail license before voters approved the cap, and that it spent more than $1.75 million on the property before the rules were abruptly changed.

SECOND ACT: Felicia Legardy, a longtime childcare provider in Detroit, is closing up shop this month and opening a 4,700-square-foot cannabis cultivation operation instead. 

ICYMI: If you missed last week’s newsletter, I reviewed four bags of weed from a team of growers who clearly give a damn about their product. There wasn’t a weak strain in this lineup. And weed that’s cured this well, this sticky, with terpenes this loud usually costs far more. 

Last week, I asked whether I should finally put my great uncle’s grow notes to use and try growing my own weed. I honestly expected you guys would tell me to stay in my lane.

Instead, five out of six of you told me to give it a shot.

So that’s a clear instruction, and I intend to follow it. My uncle’s old cookbook is coming off the shelf soon and seeds are going in the dirt as soon as I can manage it. Stay tuned. 

In the meantime, let’s talk about manners.

What’s the single most important rule of sesh etiquette?

Cast your vote. I’ll have the results next week.

Michigan’s cannabis industry has spent seven years getting very good at selling weed but almost no time figuring out where we’re supposed to smoke it. Smoking in public is illegal. Landlords can still ban it. And consumption lounges are few and far between.

Somebody in Muskegon spent $4 million and five years trying to fix that problem. 

Fields Cannary is opening on Tuesday, Sept. 1. 

And it’s not just a dispensary with a lounge. It’s also a restaurant, a bar, and an outdoor space, with bocce ball, a pool table, and a $400,000 ventilation system on site.

A few things worth clearing up, because the owners say people keep asking: The restaurant is called Rooted, and it doesn’t open until Oct. 1. The food there will not be infused with cannabis, and guests cannot smoke in the restaurant portion of the building.

Give me a few weeks, and I’ll report back with a full review. 

I ask for free stuff every time I’m shopping at the dispensary. I have no shame about this and neither should you.

There’s almost always something up for grabs—a pre-roll, an extra 10%, a first-timer deal—that nobody puts on the menu board and nobody offers up unprompted.

Sapura in Coldwater has just about the widest list I’ve seen.

Veterans, first responders, and military get a free pre-roll every time they shop. So do medical patients, healthcare workers, teachers, budtenders, growers, and anyone 65 or older. 

Now, I’m not going to insult you by pretending a giveaway pre-roll is the best thing on the shelf. It isn’t. But free weed is free weed, and if it’s not for you, give it to a friend with lower standards.

I’ve spent years in this newsletter telling Michiganders to always read the label, check the harvest dates, pay attention to terpenes, and ask your budtender what’s actually good. 

Then I walked into a dispensary and bought this joint because it had a cartoon monster on it.

In fairness to me, the name only got me to pick it up; Halloween is right around the corner, and I was feeling spooky. It was the brand that really got me to buy it. Hyman has earned enough of my trust over the years that for $10, I’ll take a gamble on a totally unknown strain. 

That gamble paid off. Goosebumps came in sweet and candied and left me feeling bright and euphoric—which turned out to be exactly right for a lakeside stroll at one of my favorite places to get out of Lansing for an afternoon. I’m keeping this low-key smoke spot to myself, though it won’t matter for long. The cold air rolling in off that lake will keep most folks away regardless.

Stay safe out there ‘Ganders. Remember that recreational cannabis is only legal in Michigan for ages 21 and up—and it’s NEVER OK to get high and drive.