A Hazel Park dispensary is closing its doors on Christmas eve, becoming at least the 14th cannabis business to shutter in the city as the cutthroat recreational marijuana industry continues to struggle with too many stores and plummeting prices.
Clarity announced the decision on its website this week and is offering 60% off everything in the store.
Owned by Trucenta LLC, a vertically integrated cannabis company based in Michigan, the dispensary at 24517 John R was originally named Breeze USA and became the first recreational dispensary to open in Oakland County in March 2020. Trucenta renamed the store Clarity last year.
Clarity is just the latest victim of an industry that has more cannabis than it can sell. Prices have plummeted, and sales continue to decline this year. Profit margins are razor thin, and many businesses have closed or are on the cusp of calling it quits.
Although dozens of dispensaries, grow operations, and processors have closed in Michigan this year, state lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer approved a new 24% wholesale tax on marijuana that industry insiders say will suffocate the industry and force the closure of more businesses. That’s on top of a 10% excise tax and a 6% sales tax.
“Layer that on top of price compression, oversupply, heavy administrative overhead, and an unpredictable enforcement climate, and the outcome is clear: even the largest, most capable operators cannot responsibly justify continued operations under this trajectory,” Trucenta CEO Zoran Bogdanovic tells Metro Times.
In addition, Bogdanovic says the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) is making it difficult for businesses by imposing massive fines for small mistakes. In November, the CRA accused Trucenta of committing several violations, including improperly transporting cannabis products, misusing the statewide monitoring system, failing to maintain complete surveillance footage, and attempting to mislead inspectors by switching tags on different marijuana products. The agency’s inspection on April 11 revealed that Trucenta employees switched tags on distillate to deceive inspectors, according to the CRA’s formal complaints.
In response, Bogdanovic stresses that the company tried to comply with regulations and collaborate with the agency. He says Trucenta has been “diligently providing all requested documentation, including video footage,” and engaging with the CRA’s inquiries. However, Bogdanovic says the company has encountered delays in the CRA’s processing of its submissions.
According to Bogdanovic, Trucenta filed five formal complaints against the CRA earlier this year over concerns about what he describes as “disruptive business practices” that were not addressed before the CRA’s recent complaints.
“The regulatory and economic landscape in Michigan has reached a point where the operational risk, financial strain, and enforcement volatility no longer align with responsible, sustainable business,” Bogdanovic tells Metro Times. “This isn’t about any single event or disagreement. This is structural.”
He adds, “Over the last several years, the Cannabis Regulatory Agency has intensified its enforcement posture to a level that has created a climate of constant operational uncertainty. Formal complaints, disciplinary actions, and protracted investigations have increased across the entire state.”
Bogdanovic points out that Trucenta is far from alone. For example, TerrAscend Corp., a multistate, publicly traded cannabis company, announced this summer that it’s closing all 20 of its dispensaries and four cultivation and processing sites in the state. The company also laid off about 250 employees at its dispensaries under the Gage, Pinnacle Emporium, and Cookies brands across Michigan, with locations in Detroit, Ferndale, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Traverse City, Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, and other cities. The company is also closing its cultivation and processing facilities in Bay City, Harrison Township, and Warren.
PharmaCann shut down its massive LivWell facility in Warren in December 2024, and Curaleaf ended its Michigan operations last year. Countless small cannabis businesses have also shuttered.
Trucenta also opened the state’s first licensed cannabis consumption lounge, Hot Box Social, in Hazel Park, in 2022, but the business has since shut down.
In Hazel Park alone, at least one other dispensary, four grow operations, six processors, two secure transporters, and a consumption lounge have gone out of business.
Nine dispensaries still operate in Hazel Park.
Cannabis businesses in the city were also hit with at least six break-ins between January 2024 and March 2025. In August, several armed suspects were arrested after breaking into the HP Lab Group processing center on John R around 1:33 a.m Police said a security guard was disarmed, kidnapped, and bound with duct tape, and the suspects drove a U-Haul through the building.
The closures could spell trouble for the city under legislation introduced by Democrats in the state Senate.
In October, Democrats who control the state Senate introduced a set of bills on Oct. 2 that would limit each municipality to one dispensary for every 10,000 residents. If approved, the legislation would prevent the state Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) from approving new dispensary licenses in municipalities that already exceed the limit. Municipalities with fewer than 10,000 residents would be limited to one retail license.
The bill wouldn’t force existing dispensaries to close, but once one shuts down, it couldn’t be replaced until the municipality falls below the cap.
If the bills pass, Hazel Park would be limited to one dispensary.
Bogdanovic says his company isn’t giving up.
“Trucenta will always stand for responsible operations, transparency, and forward-thinking leadership,” he says. “As we navigate this next chapter, our decisions will reflect one principle: doing what is right, sustainable, and aligned with the long-term health of the organization, employees, and the customers we served.”
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Steve Neavling
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