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Drug Policy Watch · State Brief 2026

Michigan

Snapshot (structured)

Adult-use cannabis
Legal since 2018 (Proposal 1, MRTMA), retail since December 2019
Medical cannabis
Legal since 2008 (Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, voter initiative)
Home grow
Legal, up to 12 plants per household for adults 21+
Intoxicating hemp / hemp THC
Treated as marijuana, restricted to licensed cannabis retailers; new licensing package passed the Senate Dec 2025 and is pending in the House
Psychedelics
Not decriminalized statewide; local Detroit and Ann Arbor measures only; narrow PTSD psilocybin bill (HB 4686) pending in committee
Broad decriminalization
No general drug decriminalization; cannabis legal
Harm reduction
Naloxone broadly available; syringe services and fentanyl test strips not explicitly authorized statewide (bills pending, HB 4498 / HB 4497)
Governor (party)
Gretchen Whitmer (Democrat), term-limited, leaves office Jan 2027
Legislature control
Split, Senate Democratic (roughly 19-18), House Republican (roughly 58-52)
Citizen ballot initiatives allowed
Yes, both initiated statutes and constitutional amendments
Enclosure pressure score
4/5

Cannabis

Adult-use cannabis has been legal in Michigan since voters passed Proposal 1, the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (MRTMA), in November 2018, with licensed retail sales beginning in December 2019. Medical marijuana has been legal since the voter-approved Michigan Medical Marihuana Act of 2008. Adults 21 and over may grow up to 12 plants at home for personal use without a license, provided the plants are in a secure, enclosed location not visible to the public; landlords may still prohibit growing in leased units (https://lovegrowingweed.com/michigan-home-grow-laws.html, https://www.flowhub.com/michigan-cannabis-laws).

Market structure: Michigan is notable for having no statewide cap on the number of licenses, which has driven a large, oversupplied, low-price market. Commercial cultivation is tiered, with Class A up to 100 plants, Class B up to 500, and Class C up to 2,000 plants; a grower may stack up to five Class C licenses for 10,000 plants (https://michigancannabis.org/licensing/cultivation, https://cannabislicenseexperts.com/blog/what-are-the-mrtma-michigan-grower-license-requirements/). Microbusiness and vertically integrated license types exist, with standard microbusinesses allowed up to 150 plants (https://www.distru.com/cannabis-blog/cannabis-microbusiness-and-vertical-licenses-explained). As of early 2026 the state reported roughly 956 active cultivation licensees, 275 processors, and 835 dispensaries, with about 2,171 total active licenses at the end of 2025, the first year-over-year decline since adult-use began (https://www.cann.dev/michigan-cannabis-retail-june-2026/, https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/us-states/michigan/news/15819825/michigan-cannabis-prices-remain-down-demand-steady-in-2026-despite-new-tax).

Taxes: Retail cannabis carries a 10 percent excise tax plus the 6 percent state sales tax. Effective January 1, 2026, Michigan added a new 24 percent wholesale tax on adult-use marijuana, enacted through House Bill 4951 (the road-funding package) signed by Governor Whitmer on October 7, 2025 (https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/us-states/michigan/news/15768874/michigan-governor-signs-24-cannabis-wholesale-tax-into-law-lawsuit-filed, https://www.wxyz.com/news/marijuana-in-michigan/michigan-implements-24-wholesale-marijuana-tax-starting-january-1). The wholesale tax is projected to raise about $420.7 million annually for road and infrastructure funding (https://hbkcpa.com/insights/michigan-cannabis-wholesale-tax-2026-business-guide/).

Key 2026 actions: The new wholesale tax is the dominant 2026 cannabis story. The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association (MiCIA) sued in the Court of Claims, arguing the tax unconstitutionally amended a voter-initiated statute (MRTMA) without the required three-fourths legislative supermajority. On December 8, 2025, Judge Sima G. Patel denied a preliminary injunction, letting the tax take effect; MiCIA appealed and filed a second lawsuit in late March 2026 arguing the tax effectively exceeds the constitutional cap on cannabis sales taxation (https://michiganadvance.com/2025/11/26/court-of-claims-hears-arguments-on-constitutionality-of-new-marijuana-tax/, https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2026-03-30/cannabis-industry-files-new-legal-challenge-to-michigans-24-marijuana-wholesale-tax, https://mjbizdaily.com/michigan-cannabis-industry-fights-massive-tax-hike-in-court/). Sales reached roughly $3.17 billion in 2025, down about 3 percent from 2024, and operators report continued price compression and closures (https://www.metrotimes.com/weed-2/michigans-cannabis-market-shrinks-as-new-tax-threatens-more-closures-layoffs/).

Hemp

Michigan treats intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids (delta-8, delta-10, THCA flower, HHC, THC-O and similar) as marijuana, meaning they may only be sold through state-licensed cannabis retailers and not in general retail; the state folded delta-8 under marijuana rules starting in 2021 and extended that approach to THCA and other hemp intoxicants by 2025 (https://www.cannabisregulations.ai/cannabis-and-hemp-regulations-compliance-ai-blog/michigan-2025-thca-hemp-derived-thc-treated-as-marijuana, https://burningdaily.com/blogs/learn/michigan-cannabis-hemp-laws).

In late 2025 the Michigan Senate passed a four-bill package (Senate Bills 599 through 602) creating an Industrial Hemp Processing Act administered by the Cannabis Regulatory Agency, requiring licensing for consumable hemp products, repealing the 2014 research-era law, and tightening controls on products containing more than 1.75 milligrams of THC. The lead bill, SB 599 (Substitute S-3), and its companions passed the Senate on roughly 27-8 votes on December 16, 2025, and moved to the Republican-led House, where they joined House bills addressing a hemp-derived beverage industry and remain in committee as of this writing (https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2025-SB-0599, https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2025-12-24/consumable-hemp-product-bills-heading-to-michigan-house, https://highlycapitalized.com/michigan-senate-tightens-controls-on-intoxicating-hemp-derivatives/). The SB 599 package is sponsored by Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia); the House Regulatory Reform Committee is chaired by Rep. Joseph Aragona (R-Clinton Twp) (https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2025-12-24/consumable-hemp-product-bills-heading-to-michigan-house).

Federal exposure: Section 781 of the FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations Act, signed November 12, 2025, redefines hemp using a total-THC standard (0.3 percent inclusive of THCA and delta-8) and caps finished products at 0.4 milligrams total THC per container, with a one-year transition so enforcement begins November 12, 2026 (https://vicentellp.com/insights/2026-federal-hemp-ban-what-it-means-for-the-future-of-consumable-hemp-products/, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12620). Analysts estimate this renders roughly 95 percent of existing hemp cannabinoid products federally unlawful. Attempts to delay or strip the ban in the 2026 Farm Bill failed; the House Agriculture Committee advanced the Farm Bill on March 5, 2026, with the ban intact (https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/hemp/news/15823852/s-house-passes-2026-farm-bill-intoxicating-hemp-product-ban-remains). Because Michigan already routes intoxicating hemp through the licensed cannabis channel, the federal November 12, 2026 deadline reinforces rather than reverses state policy.

Psychedelics

Michigan has not decriminalized psychedelics statewide. Local measures exist: Ann Arbor and Detroit have approved municipal psychedelic decriminalization or deprioritization measures, and a 2024 statewide ballot initiative effort did not qualify (https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_Decriminalization_of_Psilocybin_Mushrooms_and_Other_Plants_and_Fungi_Initiative_(2024)).

2025-2026 bills: House Bill 4686 (2025) would allow individuals 18 and older with a documented PTSD diagnosis to possess up to two ounces of psilocybin or psilocin for personal use; it is a narrow, two-page bill that does not create a regulated access system. It is sponsored by Rep. Mike McFall plus six Democratic cosponsors and was referred to the House Committee on Families and Veterans; its status remains "introduced/in committee" with no recorded advancement (https://legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2025-HB-4686, https://filtermag.org/michigan-bill-would-legalize-psilocybin-for-people-with-ptsd/, https://www.marijuanamoment.net/new-michigan-bill-would-legalize-psilocybin-for-people-with-ptsd). Broader entheogen legalization efforts led by Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) in prior sessions (such as the earlier SB 631 / SB 499 line, co-sponsored at times by then-Sen. Adam Hollier) did not advance out of committee; whether an identical Irwin bill is live in the current 2025-2026 session is unconfirmed (https://www.marijuanamoment.net/possessing-and-cultivating-psychedelics-would-be-legalized-in-michigan-under-new-senate-bill/, https://michiganadvance.com/2021/09/13/dem-introduces-bill-decriminalizing-psychedelics-hopes-to-reverse-some-war-on-drugs-impacts/).

Broader drug policy

Decriminalization: Beyond cannabis, Michigan has not enacted general drug decriminalization. Possession of other controlled substances remains criminal.

Harm reduction: Naloxone is broadly available and any person may possess and use it to respond to a suspected overdose (https://bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/push-legalize-drug-test-strips-protect-harm-reduction-tactics-mi/). However, Michigan has no statute explicitly authorizing syringe service programs; some local ordinances actually restrict syringes and other supplies, and fentanyl test strips occupy a gray area that advocates want clarified. A 2025 harm-reduction package, House Bill 5178 (explicit legal protection for syringe service programs) and House Bill 5179 (decriminalizing drug-checking test strips), was referred to the House Committee on Health Policy and is expected to move together (https://filtermag.org/michigan-bill-syringe-service-programs/, https://bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/push-legalize-drug-test-strips-protect-harm-reduction-tactics-mi/, https://mioverdoseprevention.com/bill-to-establish-syringe-service-programs-in-michigan-introduced-in-house/). Fentanyl overdose deaths have been declining, attributed in part to widespread naloxone distribution and opioid-settlement-funded programs (https://www.yahoo.com/news/fentanyl-overdose-deaths-declining-michigan-232945710.html).

Sentencing and expungement: Michigan's Clean Slate laws made expungement automatic for many eligible convictions starting April 2023, sealing records for over 1 million residents on the initial rollout. Earlier, 2020 legislation (including HB 4982) allowed unlimited expungement of marijuana misdemeanors for conduct legalized under Proposal 1 and created a presumption in favor of expungement (https://www.michigan.gov/ag/initiatives/expungement-assistance/automatic-expungements-michigan-clean-slate, https://pureoptions.com/michigans-clean-slate-act-cannabis-conviction-expungement/, https://safeandjustmi.org/clean-slate/).

Political landscape

Governor: Gretchen Whitmer (Democrat), among the most popular governors nationally, is term-limited and leaves office in January 2027 (https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2026-01-23/as-2026-begins-michigans-legislative-leaders-arent-talking). Party control is split: Democrats hold the Senate by a narrow margin (roughly 19-18, with a 2026 special election called by Whitmer to fill a long-vacant seat) and Republicans hold the House (roughly 58-52) (https://ballotpedia.org/Party_control_of_Michigan_state_government, https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/whitmer-calls-2026-special-election-for-long-vacant-michigan-senate-seat/). Every legislative seat and the governorship are up in 2026, and forecasters rate both chambers as toss-ups (https://www.governing.com/politics/a-free-for-all-in-michigan).

Key committees: House Regulatory Reform Committee (cannabis/hemp), chaired by Rep. Joseph Aragona (R-Clinton Twp); House Committee on Health Policy (harm reduction bills); House Committee on Families and Veterans (psilocybin PTSD bill).

Reform champions: Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D) on hemp regulation; Rep. Mike McFall (D) on psilocybin for PTSD; Sen. Jeff Irwin (D) historically on broad psychedelic decriminalization (current-session status unconfirmed). Opponents/skeptics: the cannabis industry (via MiCIA) opposes the 24 percent wholesale tax, while the legislative coalition that enacted it (bipartisan budget/road-funding negotiators including Gov. Whitmer) backed it; specific named lead opponents of the harm-reduction and psychedelic bills are unconfirmed.

Ballot initiatives

Michigan allows citizen-initiated measures, both initiated state statutes and constitutional amendments, and citizens have used this route repeatedly (medical marijuana in 2008, adult-use in 2018). This is central to the current tax fight: MiCIA argues that because MRTMA was a voter-initiated statute, the Legislature needed a three-fourths supermajority to amend it via the wholesale tax (https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/us-states/michigan/news/15768874/michigan-governor-signs-24-cannabis-wholesale-tax-into-law-lawsuit-filed). A 2024 statewide psilocybin/entheogen decriminalization initiative did not qualify for the ballot (https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_Decriminalization_of_Psilocybin_Mushrooms_and_Other_Plants_and_Fungi_Initiative_(2024)). No confirmed cannabis, psychedelic, or drug-policy citizen initiative is currently certified for the 2026 ballot; any new petition drive status is unconfirmed.

Equity and expungement

Social equity: Under MRTMA the Cannabis Regulatory Agency runs a social equity program offering reduced adult-use licensing fees to qualifying participants who operate in designated "disproportionately impacted communities" (https://www.mpp.org/states/michigan/). Critics note that fee reductions alone do little against capital barriers in a saturated, price-compressed market.

Expungement: Michigan's Clean Slate program made expungement automatic (no application required) beginning April 2023, clearing eligible convictions for over 1 million residents. Marijuana-specific 2020 laws allow unlimited expungement of misdemeanor marijuana convictions for now-legal conduct, with a presumption in favor of expungement (https://www.michigan.gov/ag/initiatives/expungement-assistance/automatic-expungements-michigan-clean-slate, https://pureoptions.com/michigans-clean-slate-act-cannabis-conviction-expungement/). Beneficiaries are people with low-level marijuana and other eligible convictions; those with serious or assaultive felonies and certain repeat offenses are excluded from automatic sealing.

Market and barriers

Taxes: 10 percent retail excise plus 6 percent sales tax, plus the new 24 percent wholesale tax effective January 1, 2026 (https://www.wxyz.com/news/marijuana-in-michigan/michigan-implements-24-wholesale-marijuana-tax-starting-january-1). License caps: no statewide numeric cap on licenses, which has produced a very large licensee base and oversupply. Cultivation tiers run Class A (100 plants), Class B (500), Class C (2,000), with up to five Class C licenses stackable (10,000 plants) (https://michigancannabis.org/licensing/cultivation). Approximate licensees as of early 2026: about 956 cultivators, 275 processors, 835 dispensaries, roughly 2,171 total active licenses (down year over year) (https://www.cann.dev/michigan-cannabis-retail-june-2026/). Sales were about $3.17 billion in 2025 (https://www.metrotimes.com/weed-2/michigans-cannabis-market-shrinks-as-new-tax-threatens-more-closures-layoffs/). Specific current license-fee dollar amounts, capital requirements, and any residency requirements were not confirmed in this research pass and should be verified against the CRA fee schedule.

Enclosure read

Michigan presents a paradox: an open-entry licensing regime with no license cap, yet intensifying enclosure pressure. The open market created brutal oversupply and price collapse, and the new 24 percent wholesale tax, layered on a 10 percent excise and 6 percent sales tax, squeezes margins so hard that smaller and undercapitalized operators face closure while better-capitalized multi-state and vertically integrated operators absorb the shock and consolidate. The hemp bills (SB 599-602) plus the federal November 12, 2026 ban push intoxicating hemp out of independent general retail and into the state-licensed cannabis channel, fencing out the low-barrier hemp shops that gave small sellers and consumers a cheaper, less regulated alternative. Home grow (12 plants) remains a genuine open lane for individuals, which moderates the score. Psychedelic and harm-reduction reforms remain stalled in a split legislature. Net read: the people being fenced out are small cannabis operators, independent hemp retailers, and consumers seeking legal alternatives; the consolidators are larger, well-capitalized cannabis firms and the state treasury. Score 4/5: heavily fenced through taxation and channel control, held back from 5 by preserved home grow, automatic expungement, and the open (if punishing) licensing door.

What to watch next

Regulators

Federal exposure (2026)

Michigan sits at the intersection of an oversupplied state market and a federal regime that, in 2026, mostly does not reach it. The key federal levers:

Rescheduling and 280E: Cannabis remains Schedule I by default. The DOJ/DEA order signed April 22, 2026 and effective April 28, 2026 (91 FR 22714) moved only FDA-approved cannabis drugs and state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III; adult-use (recreational) cannabis stays Schedule I, and the broader DEA rescheduling hearing opened June 29, 2026 and may slip to 2027 (https://www.dea.gov/, unconfirmed final schedule). Schedule III does not legalize cannabis, does not authorize interstate commerce, and does not cover state recreational businesses. The practical consequence for Michigan is narrow: the state's market is overwhelmingly adult-use, so the end of Section 280E (the IRS rule barring ordinary business deductions for Schedule I/II traffickers) applies only to the medical category. Most Michigan operators are still locked out of 280E relief and keep paying federal tax on gross income with no deductions, even as they absorb the new state 24 percent wholesale tax effective January 1, 2026 (https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/us-states/michigan/news/15768874/michigan-governor-signs-24-cannabis-wholesale-tax-into-law-lawsuit-filed). The combined squeeze, no federal deduction plus a new state wholesale levy on top of a 10 percent excise and 6 percent sales tax, falls hardest on small and undercapitalized operators in a price-collapsed market.

Hemp (the November 12, 2026 cliff): Section 781 of the FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations Act (Rep. Andy Harris, R-MD), signed November 12, 2025, narrows hemp to a total-THC standard (about 0.4 milligrams THC per container), recriminalizing roughly 90 to 95 percent of intoxicating hemp products effective November 12, 2026 (https://vicentellp.com/insights/2026-federal-hemp-ban-what-it-means-for-the-future-of-consumable-hemp-products/, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12620). A proposed delay (reported as H.R.7010, unconfirmed bill detail) was not enacted, and the 2026 Farm Bill (reported as H.R.7567, unconfirmed bill detail) keeps the ban (https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/hemp/news/15823852/s-house-passes-2026-farm-bill-intoxicating-hemp-product-ban-remains). Michigan already treats intoxicating hemp as marijuana and routes it through licensed cannabis retailers, and the pending Senate package (SB 599 through 602) would further fence consumable hemp into the licensed channel under the Cannabis Regulatory Agency. The practical effect: the federal ban and the state package point the same direction, so November 12, 2026 reinforces Michigan policy rather than disrupting it, and independent hemp retail loses its low-barrier lane into a regulated, licensed channel where small sellers cannot easily follow.

Banking: SAFER Banking has stalled in Congress, so Michigan cannabis businesses still face limited banking access, cash-heavy operations, and elevated security and compliance costs. This disproportionately burdens smaller operators who lack the relationships and scale that larger multi-state operators use to secure banking and capital (https://www.congress.gov/, unconfirmed current status).

Psychedelics: Psilocybin, MDMA, and ibogaine all remain Schedule I federally. An April 18, 2026 executive order, Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness [https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/04/accelerating-medical-treatments-for-serious-mental-illness/] plus FDA priority vouchers fast-track FDA review, but no approval has been granted (https://www.fda.gov/, unconfirmed). At the state level, Michigan's PTSD-only psilocybin bill (HB 4686) is stalled in committee. The federal pathway here is medicalization through FDA, not decriminalization, which means any near-term legal access in Michigan would flow through an FDA-approved, prescribed channel rather than an open or decriminalized one, again favoring institutional and clinical actors over grassroots access.

Harm reduction: SAMHSA guidance issued April 24, 2026 bars federal funds for fentanyl test strips, clean syringes, and sterile water, while naloxone remains federally supported (https://www.samhsa.gov/, unconfirmed). Michigan is directly exposed: the state's harm-reduction package (HB 4498 on syringe service programs and HB 4497 on drug-checking test strips) targets exactly the supplies the federal guidance defunds, and Michigan's syringe and overdose-prevention work has leaned on federal and opioid-settlement money. The federal cut does not ban these tools, but it strips federal dollars, pushing the cost onto the state, localities, and settlement funds, and leaving naloxone as the one federally backed pillar.

Net federal read: the 2026 federal posture is medicalize-and-control, and the enclosure it produces favors large incumbents while fencing out small actors and independent hemp. For Michigan specifically, the federal levers that bite are the hemp cliff (reinforcing state channel control) and the SAMHSA harm-reduction defunding (shifting cost onto the state); rescheduling offers Michigan little because its market is recreational, and banking reform that would have helped small operators did not pass.

Patient access and rights

This section covers what Michigan law does and does not protect for a medical cannabis patient: use inside a hospital, and the broader rights that follow a patient into work, housing, parenting, an organ transplant list, and school. It is information, not legal advice, and it reflects the law as of July 2026. Each point links to the primary statute.

Hospital access (Ryan's Law): Michigan has no hospital-access law. No statute requires a hospital, nursing home, or hospice to let a qualifying patient use medical cannabis on site, so whether a facility allows it is left to that facility's own policy, and many refuse. Seven states have now enacted a Ryan's Law protection (California in 2021, and Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington in 2026), and Pennsylvania has a bill pending; Michigan is not among them. The absence is the finding: a Michigan patient has no enforceable right to use their medicine in a hospital today.

Broader protections: Michigan protects a patient in one of the six areas, parenting. MCL 333.26424(d) provides that a person may not be denied custody or visitation of a minor for acting in accordance with the medical marihuana act, absent an unreasonable danger to the child. Employment is not protected: the act reaches only licensing boards, and the Michigan Supreme Court held in Casias v. Wal-Mart that a private employer may still discharge an employee for use. A review found no protection for housing, an organ transplant list, or school enrollment, and only a broad "any right or privilege" clause (subsection (a)) that has not been read as a general medical-care protection. Those gaps are the finding.

Out-of-state patients: Michigan offers full access; a Cannabis Regulatory Agency rule allows a sale to a visiting patient.

The federal picture: the April 2026 federal move of state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III did not change any of this. Schedule III does not make dispensary cannabis a lawful prescription medicine and does not create any hospital-use right; only state law can force hospital access, and Michigan has not enacted a Ryan's Law. The broader protections above are a creature of Michigan law, not federal law.

Sources: Michigan patient protections, MCL 333.26424.

Related reading from Drug Policy Watch: the Federal Drug Policy Brief, the Schedule III rescheduling explainer, and the 50-State Matrix.

Analysis: the enclosure read in depth

Who is fenced out and who consolidates: Michigan is the paradox case, an open-entry licensing regime with no statewide license cap that has nonetheless produced intensifying enclosure. The open door created brutal oversupply and price collapse; sales were about $3.17 billion in 2025, down roughly 3 percent year over year, and total active licenses fell for the first time since adult-use began (https://www.metrotimes.com/weed-2/michigans-cannabis-market-shrinks-as-new-tax-threatens-more-closures-layoffs/, https://www.cann.dev/michigan-cannabis-retail-june-2026/). Into that already-thin-margin market the state dropped a new 24 percent wholesale tax effective January 1, 2026 (HB 4951, the road-funding package signed October 7, 2025), projected to raise about $420.7 million a year (https://hbkcpa.com/insights/michigan-cannabis-wholesale-tax-2026-business-guide/). The wholesale tax is being challenged in court: the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association argues it unconstitutionally amended a voter-initiated statute (MRTMA) without the required three-fourths legislative supermajority, lost a preliminary injunction before Judge Sima G. Patel on December 8, 2025, appealed, and filed a second suit in late March 2026 arguing the tax exceeds the constitutional cap on cannabis taxation (https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2026-03-30/cannabis-industry-files-new-legal-challenge-to-michigans-24-marijuana-wholesale-tax). The combination of oversupply, price compression, the new wholesale tax, and the federal denial of 280E relief to recreational operators squeezes small and undercapitalized operators toward closure, while better-capitalized multi-state and vertically integrated firms absorb the shock and consolidate share. Independent hemp retailers are fenced out by a different mechanism: the state already treats intoxicating hemp as marijuana, the Senate package (SB 599 through 602) would lock consumable hemp into the licensed cannabis channel, and the federal November 12, 2026 ban removes the low-barrier general-retail lane entirely. Consumers seeking cheaper, less regulated alternatives lose those options. The consolidators are large cannabis firms and the state treasury.

State-plus-federal interaction: the two layers compound rather than offset. On cannabis, the state adds tax burden (24 percent wholesale) while the federal side withholds relief (280E intact for recreational, banking reform stalled), so the squeeze is doubled for small operators. On hemp, state channel control and the federal ban push the same direction, eliminating the independent lane. On harm reduction, the state is trying to expand access (HB 4498/4497) precisely as the federal SAMHSA guidance defunds the very supplies, forcing the state to backfill or retreat. On psychedelics, both layers point to medicalized, gated access rather than open reform. The only genuine counterweights are state-level and citizen-level, not federal.

What to watch: the MiCIA appeal and second lawsuit, which could unwind or refund the 24 percent tax and materially relieve small operators; House action on the hemp package (SB 599 through 602) in the Regulatory Reform Committee; whether HB 4686 (psilocybin/PTSD) and HB 4498/4497 (harm reduction) move at all in a split legislature; the November 2026 elections, with the governorship and the entire Legislature up and both chambers rated toss-ups, which will reset the 2027 reform landscape; and the federal November 12, 2026 hemp enforcement date.

Where commons counter-moves are present: home grow of up to 12 plants per household remains a real, open lane for individuals that no tax or licensing regime touches; automatic Clean Slate expungement (since April 2023) and unlimited marijuana-misdemeanor expungement keep returning people to the legal commons rather than fencing them out; the citizen-initiative right is itself a structural counter-move, and it is the live constitutional hook in the MiCIA tax litigation (a voter-initiated statute cannot be casually amended). These are the forces holding the enclosure score below the maximum.

Justifying the enclosure score (4/5): Michigan is heavily fenced through taxation and channel control. The 24 percent wholesale tax stacked on excise and sales tax, the federal denial of 280E to the recreational majority, stalled banking reform, the routing of intoxicating hemp into the licensed channel reinforced by the federal hemp ban, and the SAMHSA harm-reduction defunding all concentrate advantage in large, well-capitalized incumbents and the treasury while squeezing small operators, independent hemp retail, and harm-reduction services. It is held back from 5/5 by genuine commons lanes: preserved home grow, automatic expungement, and an open (if punishing) licensing door with no numeric cap, plus a live citizen-initiative constitutional check now being litigated against the wholesale tax. The balance, dominant enclosure with a few durable open lanes, supports 4/5.

Active legislation (2026)

This list covers significant active or recent bills and is not exhaustive. For the full long tail, see the Michigan Legislature bill search (https://www.legislature.mi.gov), LegiScan (https://legiscan.com/MI).

Beyond the live tracker

These measures are not in the live bill list below: some are not bills (executive orders, rules, referendums, or budgets), and some are proposals or prior-session measures the live tracker does not currently carry.

  • SB 599 (2025) Industrial Hemp Processing Act, consumable hemp licensing via CRA (Passed Senate Dec 16, 2025 (S-3); in House)
  • SB 600 (2025) Conforming refs to hemp in medical marihuana facilities licensing act (Passed Senate Dec 16, 2025; in House)
  • SB 601 (2025) Hemp package companion (S-1) (Passed Senate Dec 16, 2025; in House)
  • SB 602 (2025) Regulation of industrial hemp under MRTMA (Passed Senate Dec 16, 2025; in House)
Bill Title/Topic Chamber Status Sponsor(s)
HB 4951 (2025) Road-funding act establishing 24% wholesale marijuana tax House (enacted) Signed Oct 7, 2025; effective Jan 1, 2026 Unconfirmed lead sponsor; passed as part of budget/road-funding package
SB 599 (2025) Industrial Hemp Processing Act, consumable hemp licensing via CRA Senate to House Passed Senate Dec 16, 2025 (S-3); in House Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia)
SB 600 (2025) Conforming refs to hemp in medical marihuana facilities licensing act Senate to House Passed Senate Dec 16, 2025; in House Tie-barred to SB 599; sponsor unconfirmed
SB 601 (2025) Hemp package companion (S-1) Senate to House Passed Senate Dec 16, 2025; in House Tie-barred to SB 599; sponsor unconfirmed
SB 602 (2025) Regulation of industrial hemp under MRTMA Senate to House Passed Senate Dec 16, 2025; in House Tie-barred to SB 599; sponsor unconfirmed
HB 4686 (2025) Psilocybin/psilocin possession for PTSD patients 18+ House In Committee on Families and Veterans Rep. Mike McFall (D) plus 6 cosponsors
HB 4498 (2025) Legal protection for syringe service programs House Referred to committee 5/15/2025 Unconfirmed sponsor
HB 4497 (2025) Decriminalize drug-checking (fentanyl) test strips House Referred to committee 5/15/2025 Unconfirmed sponsor
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A planning snapshot for 2026, not legal advice. Policy moves quickly; confirm any single detail against the cited sources before acting on it. Sponsor names are given where confirmable and marked unconfirmed otherwise.

About the author. Jessica Mantonya is the founder of Drug Policy Watch and Hold in Common. She also advises operators, advocates, and funders on regulatory strategy and anti-enclosure positioning. Work with her →

Sources