Every day, more and more people are discovering cannabis and walking into a dispensary for the first time. If you are one of them—welcome! There are a few things to know to get you started on your cannabis journey. Each state that has legalized cannabis has different regulations and each municipality has the choice to opt-in or out, so if you’re in a legal state, that doesn’t mean cannabis can be found everywhere. New Standard has shops across Michigan, so you’re in good hands. With legalization came sky high-regulation. Most of the regulations affect the cannabis businesses—not the consumer. What does affect you are the regulations on how you pay, how much you can purchase and where you can consume cannabis.

Cannabis Law in Michigan

Your options for paying at a dispensary are simple. Cash is king!  All New Standard dispensaries have ATMs, so you would pay the standard fee if you didn’t bring cash to the store with you. Unfortunately, many financial institutions have turned their backs on cannabis as it is federally illegal, so credit cards can’t be used.

A valid non-expired driver’s license, state-issued I.D. or passport is required to be inside any cannabis dispensary in Michigan. In addition, if you have a medical marijuana card, you need to bring your photo I.D. as well. There is no wiggle room on this, so make sure you enter the store with what they are allowed to accept. If your license, passport or state issued I.D. is expired you must have the old card and new paper with you until you receive the new card.

Where can you enjoy your cannabis purchases? In private. We mean in your home, at a licensed designated consumption establishment, or a licensed marijuana temporary event. That’s it. So resist the urge to light up in a dispensary parking lot or while driving or while walking down the street or while sitting in a park or on the beach. It is illegal to consume in a car for both the driver or passengers or before operating a vehicle. There is an exception for medical patients consuming before driving.

REC vs. MED Cannabis

REC or recreational marijuana is also referred to as adult-use in Michigan. MED or medical marijuana is the same product but is purchased with a medical marijuana card registered through the state of Michigan by a physician.

There is no difference in products you’ll purchase, except for the licenses under which they are grown and processed. For the consumer, there is a difference in the way it is taxed. Provisioning centers that offer both MED and REC have them in completely separate areas of the store. They are received through a computer system, METRC, and are tagged and sold separately. When a MED customer purchases products, the normal state of Michigan sales tax of 6% is applied. However, a REC sale is taxed 16%, which includes a 10% marijuana excise tax plus the regular state sales tax. At New Standard, we offer a discount to MED patients who buy cannabis on the REC side.

How Much Cannabis May I Purchase?

The short answer is a lot! It’s all about weight and the daily legal amount is 2.5 oz and up to 15 g of that can be in the form of a concentrate. When you are entered into the customer base at a dispensary, your purchases are monitored by METRC to make sure you do not go over your daily limit. There are separate regulations for MED and REC regarding how much you can have at home at any given time.

Recreationally you can have up to 10oz and 12 plants. For medical patients, the maximum is 16 oz in solid form and 36 oz as liquid.

Your budtender knows all the things and loves talking about it, so just ask them any questions you have. There are always special deals running at our stores, so look online or inquire within to get more bud for your buck!

Pro Tip: The majority of dispensaries and provisioning centers have a loyalty program, so you can earn rewards to use for future purchases. Ask your New Standard budtender about how to become a loyalty member. It makes purchasing fun!

As always, feel free to ask a New Standard budtender at our Michigan dispensaries about any of our cannabis products. We got you.