Cannabis Coming: Traverse City finally issues adult-use marijuana licenses

It only took four years and four months, but the City of Traverse City has finally issued its first-ever retail licenses for adult-use marijuana.

On March 9, the city released a list of 16 operators that have been approved to open recreational cannabis dispensaries within city limits.

While adult-use weed has been allowed in Michigan since 2018 when voters approved a ballot measure to legalize the drug, Traverse City was slow to opt into the market and faced considerable controversy (and even a few lawsuits) in its attempts to draft an ordinance that would bring recreational dispensaries to the city’s 8.6 square miles.

Last August, the city finally opened up an application window for licenses, ultimately netting 16 applicants. All 16 have now been approved for licenses.

Now the big question is, what happens now that recreational cannabis has arrived in northern Michigan’s biggest population hub? To find the answer, the TCBN took a look inside two dispensaries – one that has been operating as a medical marijuana shop in town for more than three years, the other of which is a total newcomer to the local cannabis market.

House of Dank is one of 12 operators that the City of Traverse City licensed to open medical marijuana dispensaries through a lottery process held in May 2019. The brand currently operates nine dispensaries throughout the state of Michigan, including stores in…