Black-owned Nuggets Cannabis Co. dispensary has opened its first recreational store in Detroit.

Run by Louis Radden and his aunt, Camille Hicks, Nuggets Cannabis Co. is a “Detroit Legacy” licensee, which is a certification that goes to long-term city residents of more than 15 years in the last 30.

“I entered into the business initially as a medical provider, but we are honoured to be given the opportunity to open one of the first recreational facilities in the City of Detroit,” Radden said. “As we looked at opportunities across the Metro area, we always knew we wanted to be in our hometown. The cannabis industry has provided the opportunity for gainful employment with reasonable benefits to many folks in our community. I am proud to say 100 per cent of our employees at the Telegraph store are Detroit residents.”

While Michigan approved the use of recreational marijuana in 2018, the city approved the ordinance in 2022, according to a statement.

City lawmakers have been working to ensure that Detroiters have an equitable opportunity to become owners in the space. The industry in Michigan is expected to generate $3 billion in annual revenue by 2024, according to a statement.

To date, Detroit has issued 34 adult-use marijuana retail licenses. Twenty of the 34 were issued to social equity applicants, including 17 Black men and women owners.

“This doesn't happen everywhere. We fought to ensure legacy Detroiters have an opportunity to grow businesses in the cannabis industry, which has had a disproportionately negative impact on communities of colour," Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison said in a statement. “Social equity means taking action to combat the years of criminalization faced by too many of our residents. Here in Detroit, we are addressing generational loss and building generational wealth back into the hands of the community.”

Kim James, director of the Detroit Office of Marijuana Ventures and Entrepreneurship, said that Detroiters were 30 times more likely to be convicted of a marijuana crime than elsewhere in Michigan. She also said that the city’s program reserves half of the retail licenses for those who come from communities like Detroit.

And for the Nuggets dispensary, the opportunity is massive.

“The recreational retail space has allowed us to further integrate our medical practice with further pain management options for patients, which include pain creams, pain patches and elixirs for chronic pain patients, which reduce or eliminate the daily need for narcotics,” Radden said.