It’s been fourteen years since Michigan voters approved medical marijuana and just three since they opened the door to recreational sales, but already the decades of prohibition are taking on a retrospective glow. Before bud tenders, gummies, and quality testing, weed had an illicit edge: Smokers were naughty, getting away with something, hiding from the authorities. It was great sport—until you got busted.
The nostalgia may also reflect the astonishing speed with which cannabis has turned into just another capitalist commodity, from heady gold rush to price wars and consolidation. At the turn of the year, Huron View (“Ann Arbor’s friendliest provisioning center!”) was replaced by Sticky Ann Arbor (“Home of the $5 gram.”) The store on Packard near Platt is now the fifth in a chain that started in Ypsilanti in 2009.
Huron View sold cannabis for both medical and recreational use, but Sticky has dispensed with the medical side. Though many of its products are packaged in sealed containers, a display case offers sniff samples of sativa and indica blends through cylindrical glass salt shakers.
Sticky Ann Arbor, 3152 Packard. (734) 585–0172. Daily 9 a.m–9 p.m. stickyypsi.com
