LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan’s recreational marijuana market opened the year on a down note, with January sales falling about 16% from December of 2025, sliding steeply after a year-end buying surge. This data comes from the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency which showed nearly $269 million in sales in December during a record year of marijuana sales for the state.
Industry insiders aren’t just blaming the bitter cold for the declining sales – they’re pointing squarely at the state’s new 24% wholesale tax, which went into effect on Jan. 1 and layers on top of the existing 10% excise and 6% sales tax. That’s a tax trifecta baked into every purchase and earmarked for transportation infrastructure.
Customers stocked up early and then they waited.
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Dispensaries had reported a December buying spree as consumers and retailers tried to beat the tax hike, leaving January’s numbers looking dreadful by comparison. That behavior, paired with an already slow post-holiday month, made for a perfect storm of falling receipts.
Eric Slutzky, the CEO of Detroit’s Doghouse Farms Cannabis, told WXYZ that January was the worst sales record his company has ever had and worries it may not be a temporary situation. Judging by the broader slowdown across the industry, he’s not the only business owner feeling the squeeze and wondering how long it will last.
Legal challenges but no reprieve.
Industry groups tried to block the wholesale tax in court, arguing it violates the constitution and the voter-approved cannabis law, but a judge rebuffed those efforts.
