Caregiver dispensaries are invariably mom-and-pop establishments with their own grow operations. They tend to fly in the face of Big Weed, and while we don’t want to knock anyone’s entrepreneurial hustle we also don’t want a bunch of assholes flooding the market with microwaved weed (too late) and getting rich off the green market cash cow. I’d argue that some of the best dispensaries in the state are located in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti because of the amount of care they put into their product: living soil, attention to every step of the grow process, and no GMO-based pesticides or excess chemicals used.
The Hive at B.D.T.
21630 John R Rd., Hazel Park; thehivemichigan.com
The Hive at B.D.T. is a women-owned dispensary in Hazel Park. B.D.T. smoke shop has been around since 1973 and The Hive is a Micro A facility with its own on-site grow. The Hive’s Cannabis Boutique focuses on terpene-rich, small batch stuff which means you’re only getting the freshest, most upper echelon product from their deli-style bud bar. Metro Times readers voted The Hive’s infused flower as the best in Metro Detroit in 2023. The Hive also has one of the most diverse menus in the area.
Nature’s Remedy Cannabis
925 E. Drayton St., Ferndale; naturesremedycannabis.com
Nature’s Remedy Cannabis in Ferndale offers craft cannabis and any discerning smoker knows this is the type of dispensary you go to re-up your primo stash. NRC has one of the most extensive inventories in the state and with bundles and deals out the wazoo you’ll pay a lower price point than you do at most boutique dispensaries. They carry brands like Hypha, which I can personally attest is top-notch smoke; their Tropical Runtz is one of the best pre-rolls I’ve ever tasted, bar none. If you’re looking for curated marijuana, look no further than this spot in fashionable Ferndale.
Moses Roses
6237 Federal St., Detroit | 1005 John A Papalas Dr., Lincoln Park | 5806 Dixie Hwy., Waterford | mosesroses.com
While they carry standard fare on their bud menu, they are also the flagship dispo to carry Calyxeum, a grass-roots Detroit brand owned by women. Mary Jane is named after the ladies for a reason and who better to steward caregiver cannabis than some Motown Misses. Cue MF Doom’s “My Favorite Ladies.”
West Coast Meds
8620 Lyndon St., Detroit; westcoastmeds.com
West Coast Meds is a minority-owned dispensary, which considers itself to be the highest-rated and cheapest dispensary in the 313. They also carry the cultivated Calyxeum brand as well as under-the-radar growers like Workers Cannabis, Farm Marcellus, and Templar Collective.
Best Lyfe
32767 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak; mibestlyfe.com
Best Lyfe in Royal Oak is another microbusiness; cannabis microbusinesses are allowed to grow up to 150 plants on premises. So if you apply the farm-to-table concept to cannabis and value local, sustainable sourcing, dispensaries like Best Lyfe and The Hive are the ones you should frequent. In-house harvesting always ensures you’re getting the most care in your purchases and Best Lyfe’s menu makes my stoner Spidey sense activate. Best Lyfe’s inventory is scaled to small-batch specifications; ten strains that list all the lineages, percentages and effects. This is everything I’m looking for in a dispensary. Give me quality over quantity every day of the week and twice on Sunday Funday. They also have outreach programs, so the crew at BL are true cannabis crusaders.
Luxury Loud
2520 22nd St., Detroit; luxuryloud.net
Luxury Loud is another farm-to-table dispensary that features its own strains as well as other local growers. LL has a unique origin story from a trichome triumvirate: a trust fund weedhead Englishman, an ex-heroin junky-turned-shaman, and a wrongfully convicted, award-winning strain grower joined forces to create this Detroit original. While they outsource their concentrates and edibles, all their flower is grown onsite. Almost all their pre-rolls are in-house as well with Shatter House being the only other grower they carry.
Dacut
12668 Gratiot Ave., Detroit; dacut.com
Dacut dispensary is considered to be the first recreational dispensary in Detroit having logged a perfect score as an equity applicant. Dacut switched from medical to rec in 2023 and they have their own grow operation which is reason enough to add it to this survey. They also carry a number of brands I’ve never seen elsewhere (Clout King, Spaceman, Grown Rogue, and Holey Cannoli, to name a few). Their first-time customer perks are unrivaled and frankly the best I’ve ever seen: a free Dacut eighth, 1g Diamond Dab, or a gummy. I’d go with the in-house eighth, brodie, can’t beat that with a bat. Their happy hour (4:20-7:10, cute) is also robust, 30% off.
Craft Club
18932 Woodward Ave., Detroit; joincraftclub.com
If you have a monthly cannabis budget you may want to fold in Detroit’s Craft Club to your weed outlay. Who wouldn’t want to get carefully curated monthly boxes of weed and psilocybin (shrooms) starting at just 47 Yankee dollars. There’s some nice choices in addition to the Shroom Box: a Craft Mystery Box, a Pre-Roll Box, an Edible Box, a Concentrate Box and a Flower Box. You can also book Craft Club for events and gatherings or rent their Speak-Easy space. Sounds like a whole White Owl hoot.
Apotheculture Club
instagram.com/apothecultureclub
Detroit also boasts the experience-oriented Apotheculture Club which has its own cannabis chef, Enid Parham, also known as Lucky Pistil. James Blaszko co-created the dinner-theater-driven cannabis club that specializes in edible and potable cannabis. Opera and weed, who knew.
Lega Sea Farms
legaseacannabis.com
There’s also Lega Sea Farms with several grows throughout metro Detroit. A unique business model in that proceeds help fund the Lega Sea Reptarium in Utica. Save the manatees and the marijuana trees.
There’s so much more to explore in Southeast Michigan’s ever-burgeoning green market, we hope this gives you a decent green thumb in the right direction. We’ll get back out on the Green Michigan Mile and report back. We have not yet begun to smoke.
