Michigan Dispensary and Delivery Rules (2026)

Michigan dispensaries and delivery services answer to the Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA), which licenses, inspects and disciplines every adult-use retailer, microbusiness and medical provisioning center in the state.

The core idea is a closed, tracked supply chain. Every package must come from a licensed business, arrive by an approved transport method, carry a tag in Metrc, the state’s tracking system, and be logged again when it leaves your hands. Most fines come from gaps in that chain.

Below are the rules with their section numbers, checked in November 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current rules with the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency.

Key takeaways

Buy only from licensed Michigan businesses, move product by secure transporter, and never sell anything untested, recalled, expired or untagged.
Metrc is the backbone of compliance. Inaccurate or late entries are among the most common reasons the CRA files complaints.
There is no separate delivery license. A licensed sales location delivers once the CRA approves its written delivery procedures.
Rules differ by state and change often, and Michigan’s rule set is being rewritten. Recheck the CRA’s rules before you change your procedures.

Who enforces Michigan dispensary rules?

The Cannabis Regulatory Agency (part of LARA) enforces two laws: the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (MRTMA) for adult-use “establishments” and the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) for medical “facilities.” Its rules are in the Michigan Administrative Code, R 420:

Licensees (R 420.101 and following): what each license may buy and sell.
Marihuana Operations (R 420.201 and following): records, security, tracking, delivery.
Sampling and Testing (R 420.301 and following) and Infused Products and Edibles (R 420.401 and following).
Sale or Transfer (R 420.501 to R 420.508): ID, limits, labels, ads, samples.
Employees (R 420.601 and following) and Disciplinary Proceedings (R 420.701 and following).

Local governments add their own layer: store hours, signage, zoning and local licenses. Treasury collects taxes. For licensing, see how to get a cannabis license in Michigan.

Buying inventory as a Michigan retailer

Under R 420.104(1), an adult-use retailer may buy or receive marijuana products only from a licensed marijuana establishment, such as a grower, processor or another retailer.

Transport and manifests

Product moving between businesses must travel with a marijuana secure transporter, a separately licensed business. The only exception is a transfer between licenses at the same location that uses only private property and no public road. Each shipment moves on a Metrc manifest that you accept or reject on arrival.

Testing before sale

You may not sell any product until it has passed compliance testing at a licensed safety compliance facility and carries the retail label (R 420.104(3)(a)). Before each sale, R 420.505(1) also requires you to confirm the item isn’t on administrative hold, recalled, ordered destroyed or past its expiration date.

Transfers, samples and medical stock

Retailer to retailer: Allowed through a secure transporter, but only while both licenses are active.
Medical to adult-use: Commonly owned businesses holding equivalent licenses may move medical product into adult-use inventory under R 420.214.
Trade samples: Growers and processors may send labeled trade samples, which you may not resell (R 420.508).

Returns, recalls and destruction

Pull recalled or held items at once and log them in Metrc. Destruction must be recorded and done on camera. The rules set no order minimums or caps.

The wholesale tax on your invoices

Since January 1, 2026, the business making the first sale to a retailer owes a 24% wholesale tax. It may pass that cost to you on the invoice. Affiliated transfers are taxed at Treasury’s average wholesale price.

How product moves through a Michigan store

Flow chart of a Michigan cannabis store's supply chain: licensed supplier and passing lab test, secure transporter with Metrc manifest, receiving and tagging, locked storage and inventory reconciliation, then sale or delivery with ID check, limit check and Metrc recording — The closed, tracked path a package takes from a licensed supplier to a Michigan customer. Source: CRA rules R 420.104, R 420.209, R 420.505 and R 420.207.

Seed-to-sale tracking in Michigan (Metrc)

Michigan’s statewide monitoring system is Metrc. Retailers must “accurately enter all transactions, current inventory, and other information” into it (R 420.104(3)(b)). That covers:

Every package: R 420.210 bars having product that isn’t identified in Metrc or that lacks a batch number or tag, and requires you to tag or record it immediately.
Every transfer and sale, plus returns, waste and adjustments.
Every employee: staff must be added with an access level after hiring and removed after leaving, on the deadlines in the table below.

Reconcile physical stock against Metrc often. The current rules don’t set a fixed count schedule, but untagged or misplaced packages are a top enforcement target. In May 2026 the CRA filed a complaint against a Harrison Township processor after inspectors reported more than 12,000 products without Metrc tags. See seed-to-sale tracking explained.

Selling to customers

ID checks: Before every adult-use sale, verify a valid driver’s license or government photo ID proving the buyer is 21 or older (R 420.505(1)(c)). Medical sales also need a valid registry card.
Limits: Your POS must block any sale over the R 420.506 limits. Staff may not split an order into smaller tickets to get around them.
Hours: Set by your city or township, not the state.
Sales floor: Customers may enter only a dedicated point-of-sale area. No on-site consumption without a lounge or event license.
Fixed location only: Mobile sales, mail order and consignment are banned (R 420.203(2)(g)).
Customer data: Adult-use retailers don’t have to keep customer information beyond payment method, amount, time and product details (R 420.505(4)).
Pamphlet: Hand every customer the required safety pamphlet at the time of sale (R 420.504(4)).
Discounts and loyalty: The rules don’t cap ordinary discounts, but every unit that leaves the store must be recorded as a sale and counts toward the customer’s limit.
Exit packaging: Products must already be in compliant, sealed packaging. Edibles must be in opaque, child-resistant packages.

Michigan cannabis delivery rules

Michigan has no stand-alone delivery license. A licensed sales location may deliver once the CRA approves its delivery procedures (R 420.207(1)). The key rules:

Drivers: Must be the store’s own employees, meet the employee rules, and work as a delivery employee for only one location. Adult-use staff must be 21 or older.
Where: Adult-use orders go to a residential address or a licensed consumption establishment given when the order was placed. Hotels, dorms and offices aren’t on that list; ask the CRA first.
At the door: Hand the order only to the adult who placed it, after checking photo ID, and get a signature in the delivery log.
Vehicles: Keep vehicle records, an active GPS device on every run and product in a marked, locked compartment. Never leave product in an unattended vehicle unless it is locked and alarmed. Cameras and signage aren’t required.
Cash: Drivers may collect payment on delivery. There is no cash cap in the rule.
Paperwork: Drivers carry their employee ID number, license details, the delivery log, an inventory ledger with tag numbers and a stop log.
Hours: Only during your store’s business hours.
Refusals: Undelivered product returns to the store, goes back into inventory and is updated in Metrc.

See also our guide on starting a delivery business.

Michigan operating rules at a glance

Rule	Requirement	Where it comes from
Adult-use sale limit	2.5 oz per transaction, including no more than 15 g of concentrate	R 420.506
Medical sale limit	2.5 oz per patient per day; 10 oz per month	R 420.506
Store hours	Set by the municipality	Local ordinance
Minimum staff age (adult-use)	21	R 420.602(2)(j)
Employee added to or removed from Metrc	Within 7 business days of hiring or leaving	R 420.602(2)(b), (c)
Product value in a delivery vehicle	$5,000 at retail price; $3,000 for product not tied to an order processed before departure	R 420.207(9)(d)
Product amount per delivery trip	15 oz of marijuana or 60 g of concentrate	R 420.207(10)
Idle delivery driver	Return to the store after 30 minutes with no order	R 420.207(9)(l)
Delivery stop log	Keep at least 1 year	R 420.207(9)(j)
Financial and sales records	Keep at least 4 years	R 420.203(2)(f)(iii)
Camera footage	Keep at least 30 calendar days	R 420.209(11)
Camera quality and coverage	720p minimum; clear view within 20 feet of every entry and exit	R 420.209(6)(b), (7)
Advertising audience	No more than 30% expected to be under 21	R 420.507
Customer safety pamphlet	At least 3.5 by 5 inches, given at every sale	R 420.504(4)
Infused product potency	No sale above the CRA’s published THC maximums by more than 10%	R 420.404
Physical inventory count	Not set in the current rules; ask the CRA	Not published
Answering a formal complaint	Request a compliance conference or hearing within 21 days	R 420.704(2)

Packaging and labeling

Every container must be sealed and labeled before it reaches your shelf (R 420.504(1)). Labels must show the producer and license number, the Metrc tag, net weight, THC and CBD levels with a variance statement, activation time, the testing lab and Michigan’s universal symbol.

Required warnings cover driving, Poison Control, keeping product from children, and pregnancy. Edibles add stricter rules under R 420.403: opaque, child-resistant and resealable packaging for multi-serving items, no shapes of humans, animals or fruit, no cartoons, and no use of the word “candy.” Since April 2025, delta-8 may be only a small share of total THC. More in our packaging and labeling guide.

Advertising and marketing

R 420.507 sets the statewide floor, and local sign ordinances often go further.

No false, misleading or deceptive claims, and no health claims unless the FDA has authorized them.
Adult-use products must be marketed as for people 21 and older, never to anyone younger, and you can’t sponsor events aimed at minors.
Public ads need reliable evidence that the audience meets the age threshold in the table above. That covers billboards, radio, influencers and social media.

Influencer deals carry extra risk. In October 2026 the CRA revoked a Ypsilanti retailer’s license and fined it $251,250 after staff split orders to hand hundreds of vape cartridges to two social media influencers. For marketing within the rules, see dispensary local SEO.

Security, staff and records

Security (R 420.209): Record every area where product is weighed, stored, loaded, sold or destroyed, plus entrances from inside and out, on motion-activated cameras with accurate time stamps. Keep a failure alert on the system, an alarm, commercial-grade locks and a log of who monitors, removes or destroys recordings. See dispensary security requirements.

Staff (R 420.602): Run a background check and the CRA’s excluded-employee check before hiring. Keep a training manual, a responsible operations plan on over-intoxication and underage access, and point-of-sale procedures. Report any employee’s felony charge immediately. No state budtender certificate exists; see budtender training requirements.

Records: Keep financial records traceable to individual transactions, and current written SOPs on site.

Taxes your business collects and remits

At the register: Charge the 10% marijuana retailers excise tax on adult-use sales, then 6% sales tax on the price plus excise. Medical sales carry sales tax only.
Excise filing: File Form 5676 quarterly through Michigan Treasury Online, one return per location, by the 20th of the month after each quarter.
Sales tax: Treasury assigns your filing frequency, plus an annual return.
Wholesale tax: Quarterly, owed by the seller to retailers. Treasury waives 2026 penalties for sellers who pay at least 75% each quarter and file all 2026 returns by January 20, 2027.

The wholesale tax faces two lawsuits. On April 22, 2026, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered the Court of Appeals to expedite review; no ruling had been published when we checked.

Inspections and penalties

CRA inspectors visit without notice. Violations lead to a formal complaint, then a consent order or a contested hearing. Sanctions include fines, suspension, restriction, nonrenewal and revocation. There is no published fine schedule; 2026 cases show the range:

March 2026: A Flushing retailer was charged over Metrc errors, missing SOPs, an unrecorded storage closet and camera clocks off by an hour.
March 2026: The owner of Portage and Watervliet stores agreed to a $15,000 fine and a 14-day suspension for accepting stock from a location whose license had expired.
September 2026: A Clare grower lost 20 medical grower licenses and was fined $2 million for mislabeled transfers, untagged product and security failures.
October 2026: The Ypsilanti influencer case above ended in revocation.

The CRA posts disciplinary reports monthly.

Michigan compliance at a glance

845active adult-use retailer licenses as of August 31, 2026 (CRA data via The Marijuana Herald, 2026)

22active adult-use secure transporter licenses as of August 31, 2026 (CRA data via The Marijuana Herald, 2026)

928violations issued by the CRA in 2024, the most of any US state (Cannabiz Media via Rootwurks, 2025)

$3.72Min fines across fined Michigan violations in 2024 (Cannabiz Media via Rootwurks, 2025)

Your Michigan dispensary compliance checklist

Daily: Check IDs and limits on every sale; confirm nothing is on hold, recalled or expired; accept manifests in Metrc on arrival; check cameras; reconcile delivery ledgers.
Weekly: Count high-value inventory against Metrc; audit delivery GPS records; check recall notices.
Monthly: Read the CRA disciplinary report; update SOPs; check staff access in Metrc; review ads.
Quarterly: File excise and sales tax returns by the 20th; check wholesale tax pass-throughs on invoices.
Annually: Renew your state and local licenses; run a full physical inventory; retrain staff; review your security plan and insurance.

Build on our dispensary compliance checklist and seed-to-sale guide.

Get found on WhereLeaf

A WhereLeaf listing shows adults your address, hours, delivery zone and license. Add your listing or see our featured packages. Point customers to our Michigan cannabis laws guide, and compare markets in our cannabis license guides.

Frequently asked questions

Can a dispensary buy from another dispensary in Michigan?

Yes. A retailer may buy from any licensed marijuana establishment, including another retailer, as long as both licenses are active, the product moves by secure transporter, and the transfer is recorded in Metrc.

Can delivery drivers carry cash?

Yes. Drivers may collect payment at the door, and customers may also pay online when ordering. Set your own cash-drop policy and insure drivers.

Can staff try products before we stock them?

Yes, through internal product samples from a supplier’s trade samples. Each employee may receive up to 1 ounce of marijuana, 6 grams of concentrate and 2,000 mg of THC in infused samples per 30 days, all recorded in Metrc.

Are new CRA rules coming?

Yes. The CRA rewrote its full rule set after more than 700 public suggestions and held a second public hearing on July 23, 2026. The new rules must still pass legislative committee review before they take effect.

Does the CRA ever let a store fix a violation without a fine?

Sometimes. After a formal complaint, you may ask for a compliance conference, and many cases end in a negotiated consent order. Bring proof of the fix.

Sources

Last updated: November 2026. Laws and prices change; always check your state or provincial regulator.