Friends,
God is good, and Karma is real. Recent news in the Michigan cannabis industry only confirms that reality. There is justice in the universe.
Skymint – one of the biggest marijuana retailers in the state of Michigan – is on the hook for an astounding $127 million dollars that they are unable to repay their creditors. They own 24 cannabis dispensaries across the state, and despite their PR spin to the contrary, it is only a matter of time before the entire enterprise goes bust considering the state of the cannabis industry in Michigan.
Even though it is unfortunate that hundreds will lose their jobs, we should be crying no tears for Skymint’s fall as it is well-deserved.
Skymint was one of the major players that were behind the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association (MCMA), which pushed for the Big Weed monopoly in Lansing during last year’s legislative session. The Michigan Caregivers Association (MCA) dropped a nuclear bomb on the MCMA, blowing up the monopoly plans that they hoped they could fast track and push through without the public realizing what was occurring. We put dark money lobbyist Steve Linder’s ugly rat face in the newspapers, retiring his sorry ass in disgrace, and put the MCMA out to pasture. The organization was forced to close this year.
Of course, we were not alone in this fight, and many joined us on the front lines to hold off the Big Weed takeover. There were thousands of cannabis-freedom advocates fighting diligently on behalf of the caregivers and the medical cannabis patients. But we were leading the way with the talking points, blazing the trail with an aggressive no-holds-barred approach, dragging the bad guys through the mud with reckless abandon, making the fight as ugly as possible, and shining an inescapable light on the lobbyists and corporate interests who were using fraud and deceit in an attempt to monopolize the industry.
We changed the narrative from “cannabis safety,” which was the centerpiece of the talking points crafted by the Big Weed lobby. They wanted us to argue about the supposed problem of unlicensed growers supplying cannabis product to people without regulators or government officials inspecting the crops. This is how the cannabis industry worked for years and thrived despite prohibition. Rather than humor their nonsensical concerns, we inserted ourselves into the public debate and blew their entire argument up. We put the bad guys on the defensive. In the end, no lawmaker wanted to touch the bill.
And now Skymint is screwed as a result!
Without a government-granted monopoly propping them up, firms like Skymint cannot dominate the marketplace. Hell, they cannot even stay afloat. Cannabis consumers by and large do not want to buy product from dirty, disreputable corporate whores. With a huge diverse marketplace out there, cannabis consumers chose to go to other dispensaries, buy from trusted sources, or simply grow their own rather than hand over their money to a demon. This is the essence of the free market. These bastards at Skymint were unethical and are being run out of business in a well-deserved failure.
Rumor has it that more firms are going to be biting the dust in short order. It has been alleged that PURE in Lapeer, owned by the greasy attorney Mikey Bahoura, recently laid off many of its workers, and other locations are on similarly shaky ground. PURE may be the next domino to fall, and then other monopoly firms will come next. They are reaping what they have sown. It didn’t have to be this way, but they insisted on the rules that have made their profit-seeking unviable.
We warned what would happen if the large-scale cannabis licenses granted by the state were not capped. There would inevitably be an excess of investment into the industry, resulting in oversaturation, and the golden goose of the cannabis industry would be killed. That is what is happening now. The corporate daddies who hated the industry and tried to stifle it for years eventually saw big money in it, and tried to gang rape the cannabis cannabis like they have so many other industries in America. But unfortunately for these villains, cannabis is an industry unlike any other.
Cannabis is not like McDonalds. Cannabis users care deeply about the plant, how their products are made, the quality of those products, and the ethics behind the sale. The best caregivers have been able to weather the storm within this tumultuous marketplace because their patients have stood strong and demand the best quality. The best growers and best products are sought out by consumers. Reputations in this industry matter, and that truth is being felt – good and hard – by the wannabe monopolists now. Without the government able to prop them up, they are getting bitch slapped by the invisible hand of the market.
Even though there is a great deal of turmoil in the cannabis industry, the turmoil is not hurting the customer. According to FOX 17 West Michigan, the price for an ounce of cannabis has dropped from an average of $516 in December of 2019 to an average of $81 as of January 2023. This is happening during a time of widespread inflation in virtually all other economic sectors. Would this have happened if the Big Weed gangsters gotten their monopoly like they planned? Of course not!
Now, there is a push to cap licenses, to close off the industry because of the “problem” of oversupply. Is oversupply a problem for the cannabis consumers? Is that a problem for individuals who are frequenting cannabis dispensaries? Is oversupply a problem for medical marijuana patients who need cannabis to sustain their lives? These aren’t the people complaining. It is the forces who tried to game the system and failed miserably due to their greed and avarice who are now begging for the bailout.
We say: HELL NO to that! We need to make sure that the interests who set this system up to enrich themselves at the expense of the many suffer mightily for their misdeeds. Let them all go the way of Skymint. They must suffer the losses. It is time to let the big guys, the rich guys, the banks who put up the loans, and the wannabe monopolists take the hit. Put all of their broke asses on the unemployment line.
The only reform that should be coming from Lansing is allowing caregivers to sell their product on the broader market. Allow them to get the market share they deserve. This way, the dispensaries will be rewarded that use the best products, the monopolists will lose even more of the market share they have not earned, and the small guys will prosper.
The way forward is a restoration to what built the cannabis industry into a powerhouse. Marijuana did not become America’s #1 top cash crop because of corporate backing or because of government regulations. It became a powerhouse in spite of every government and corporate obstacle imaginable. We need to keep the industry strong by limiting government and corporate overreach. The MCA will be fighting diligently for those ends, on your behalf, moving forward.
Sincerely,
George Brikho