Lansing — Nearly $20.4 million in cannabis was purchased through adult-use retailers in Michigan on Monday, April 20, a date celebrated among marijuana users.
The sales on 4/20, a date that has become a sort of holiday in cannabis culture, remained largely steady from past years where it has fallen on a weekday, according to data shared by Cannabis Regulatory Agency spokesman David Harns.
The $20.4 million in sales was up about 27% from last year, when April 20 fell on Easter Sunday and yielded about $16 million in sales. This year’s sales were down 28% from 2024, when April 20 fell on a Saturday.
But the $20.4 million total was “largely in line” with 2023, Harns said, when 4/20 fell on a Thursday and resulted in about $20.7 million in sales.
This year’s 4/20 was the first held under Michigan’s new 24% wholesale tax on marijuana. The tax, which is being challenged in court, was imposed by the Legislature last year to generate more money for roads and went into effect on Jan. 1.
Robin Schneider, executive director for the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, said the industry was expecting higher numbers from last year due to 4/20 falling on Easter in 2025.
The effects of the wholesale tax likely won’t be felt by the customer just yet, Schneider said. But the tax is already resulting in job losses and facility closures in the industry, she said.
“We’re not to the point where customers are seeing that wholesale tax yet,” Schneider said. “They’re (the retailers) still largely selling through the product that they purchased prior to the wholesale tax.”
The average retail flower per ounce on Monday was about $53.38, Harns said, which is down about 17 cents from 2025.
The average costs per ounce on 4/20 in 2026 and 2025 were markedly lower than in 2024, when the cost was $75.36, and 2023, when the cost was $72.95 per ounce.
The price of marijuana has dropped in recent years in large part because of the oversaturation in the market, operators said.
In 2024, there were about $3.27 billion in adult-use sales; whereas, in 2025, there were about $3.17 billion in adult-use sales, according to monthly sales reports prepared by the Cannabis Regulatory Agency.
In the first three months of 2025, there were about $764.2 million in adult-use sales; in the first three months of 2026, there were about $715.6 million in adult-use sales, per state data.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
