A new cannabis grow operation that broke ground in Inkster on Friday claims to be Michigan's first to be fully Black-owned.
The 25,500 square foot facility is owned by Michigan Agricultural Services, LLC (MAS), which was founded by Detroit natives Mark Stockdale and Sahir Al-Salam. It will include a high-tech indoor commercial cannabis grow and processing facility.
"We believe that in order for the cannabis industry to survive it has to be diversified," Stockdale said in a statement. "It's time for everybody to grow economically, and cannabis is a pathway for us to build wealth and invest in our communities."
While Michigan's cannabis industry is booming, posting record sales last month, a study from the state's Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) found that Black people are being left out. Black people make up 13.7% of the state’s population, but the MRA found only 3.8% of Michigan residents with an ownership interest in licensed recreational cannabis businesses are Black. Nearly 80% of the people interested in ownership were white.
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