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Deputy
Mayor
Todd
Bettison,
Dr.
Louis
Radden,
Camille
Hicks,
City
Council
President
Pro-Tem
James
Tate and
District
2
Detroit
Police
Commissioner
Linda
Bernard
cutting
the
ribbon
at
Nuggets
Dispensary. |
| |
Nuggets
Dispensary,
City’s
First
New
Detroit
Legacy
Recreational
Marijuana
Business,
Celebrates
Grand
Opening
DETROIT
-
Council
President
Pro-Tem
James
Tate,
Deputy
Mayor
Todd
Bettison,
and
other
city
officials
joined
Black-owned
Nuggets
Cannabis
Co.
Detroit
Dispensary
to
celebrate
its
grand
opening
last
Saturday.
Nuggets
Dispensary
is a
family-owned
business,
run by
longtime
Detroiters,
Dr.
Louis
Radden
and his
aunt,
Camille
Hicks.
Nuggets
is the
first
Detroit
Legacy
licensee
to newly
open a
recreational
marijuana
dispensary
as part
of the
city’s
social
equity
program.
"This
doesn't
happen
everywhere.
We
fought
to
ensure
legacy
Detroiters
have an
opportunity
to grow
businesses
in the
cannabis
industry,
which
has had
a
disproportionately
negative
impact
on
communities
of
color,"
Deputy
Mayor
Todd
Bettison
said.
“Social
equity
means
taking
action
to
combat
the
years of
criminalization
faced by
too many
of our
residents.
Here in
Detroit,
we are
addressing
generational
loss and
building
generational
wealth
back
into the
hands of
the
community.”
Since
adult-use
marijuana
sales
were
authorized
in
Detroit
three
years
ago,
Mayor
Mike
Duggan's
administration
has
worked
closely
with
Council
President
Pro-Tem
James
Tate to
ensure
that
Detroiters
have
equitable
opportunities
to
participate
in the
legal
cannabis
industry,
which is
predicted
to
generate
$3
billion
in
annual
revenue
in
Michigan
by 2024.
“It is
an
exciting
time in
Detroit
for
Adult
Use
Marijuana.
Just a
few
months
ago we
saw
Judge
Friedman
rule
against
the
Temporary
Restraining
Order
that
would
have
again
prevented
Detroit
from
moving
forward
with our
current
Adult-Use
Marijuana
Ordinance,”
said
Tate
(D1). “I
am proud
to be
able to
open
doors of
opportunity
for
Detroiters
for
years to
come and
it feels
good to
know
because
of the
hard
work we
get to
welcome
Nuggets,
a
Detroit
Legacy
licensee,
to D1."
Homegrown
Detroit
is a
cannabis
entrepreneurship
program
under
Detroit
Department
of Civil
Rights,
Inclusion
&
Opportunity
(CRIO)
Office
of
Marijuana
Ventures
&
Entrepreneurship.
The
program
is
dedicated
to
improving
the
quality
of life
for
Detroit
residents
by
equipping
them
with
tools
and
resources
to
establish
and
expand
marijuana-businesses
in the
city.
The
current
Social
equity
provisions
were
crafted
in an
ordinance
revised
in 2022
to
ensure
that
Black
and
Brown
people
are
represented
in the
cannabis
industry
and
counteract
the
impact
of
formerly
punitive
policies
by
providing
these
communities
with
additional
resources
and
opportunities
within
the
cannabis
industry.
An
equity
applicant
is an
individual
whose
primary
residence
is
located
within a
disproportionately
impacted
community.
Eligible
applicants
must
control
51% of
the
business
or they
can
participate
in a
non-equity
license
application
with
less
equity.
A
licensee's
designation
of
"Detroit
Legacy,"
(like
Nuggets)
reflects
that at
least
51% of
the
ownership
have
been
certified
as
long-term
Detroit
residents
who have
lived in
the City
of
Detroit
for at
least 15
years
out of
the last
30.
Low-income
Detroiters
and
those
with
prior
convictions
or a
parent
with a
prior
conviction
pertaining
to the
sale,
possession,
use,
cultivation,
processing,
or
transport
of
marijuana
prior to
2018 can
get this
certification
after 10
and 13
years,
respectively.
“The
Homegrown
program
was put
in place
to
facilitate
ownership
and
employment
opportunities
for
Detroiters
in the
legal
cannabis
marketplace,
as a
remedy
for the
disproportionate
impact
of
prohibition
and
enforcement
on
Detroit
residents
and
people
of
color,”
said Kim
James,
Director
of the
Detroit
Office
of
Marijuana
Ventures
and
Entrepreneurship.
James
also
drafted
the city
of
Detroit’s
zoning
and
licensing
laws
pertaining
to
medical
marijuana,
facilitated
the
implementation
of the
city’s
program
under
the
Medical
Marijuana
Facilities
Licensing
Act
(MMFLA).
Last
year,
she
worked
with
Detroit
City
Council
to
develop
regulations
for
adult
use
marijuana
establishments
in the
revised
2022
ordinance.
“During
the
prohibition
era,
Detroiters
were 30
times
more
likely
to be
convicted
of a
marijuana
crime
than
elsewhere
in
Michigan,
and our
program
addresses
that
inequity
by
reserving
half of
the
retail
licenses
for
those
who come
from
communities
like
Detroit,”
said
James.
Last
December,
City of
Detroit
notified
the
first 33
successful
equity
licensee
applicants,
including
Nuggets
Dispensary,
for
adult-use
marijuana
retail
licenses
that
they
have
been
approved.
"I
entered
into the
business
initially
as a
medical
provider,
but we
are
honored
to be
given
the
opportunity
to open
one of
the
first
recreational
facilities
in the
City of
Detroit,”
said Dr.
Radden.
As we
looked
at
opportunities
across
the
Metro
area, we
always
knew we
wanted
to be in
our
hometown.
The
cannabis
industry
has
provided
the
opportunity
for
gainful
employment
with
reasonable
benefits
to many
folks in
our
community.
I am
proud to
say 100%
of our
employees
at the
Telegraph
store
are
Detroit
residents."
"The
recreational
retail
space
has
allowed
us to
further
integrate
our
medical
practice
with
further
pain
management
options
for
patients
which
include
pain
creams,
pain
patches
and
elixirs
for
chronic
pain
patients
which
reduce
or
eliminate
the
daily
need for
narcotics".
To date
the city
issued
34
adult-use
marijuana
retail
licenses.
Twenty
of the
34 were
issued
to
social
equity
applicants.
Nineteen
of the
34
retailers
are
owned by
Detroiters
with a
51%
majority,
including:
• 10
African-American
men 51%
majority
owners
• 7
African-American
women
51%
majority
owners
• 15
Detroit
Legacy-certified
individuals
have
ownership
interests
City
Council
President
Pro-Tem
James
Tate has
been a
champion
for
Detroit
Legacy
marijuana
ventures.
Advertise With Us:
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