College Student Uses Marijuana Merchandise Loophole to Get Around Michigan Laws

A month and a day into Michigan's decision to legalize recreational pot usage, Alex Poulos, an enrollee at The University of Detroit Mercy, is using a marijuana merchandise loophole to try to build his Wolverine State-based business. Government officials have not included a date by which anyone can sell the substance, but the budding 22-year-old entrepreneur is sort of making up for that void by including weed as a gift to those who make marijuana merchandise purchases through his CannaMich website.

Relatively nondescript, the site contains three T-shirts that are available for delivery in Michigan’s Macomb and Wayne counties. We have seen some outrageously priced garments in our time, so Poulos’ options, priced at $100 to $340, did not strike us that much, especially since we realize that the branded tops likely fetch such high prices because of the quality of the ganja (or vape cartridges) that the proprietor will send along. In other words, end-users are paying exorbitant prices for pretty standard apparel items so as to have a way to smoke up without having to wait until Michigan decides when they can purchase weed from an approved vendor.

Perhaps Poulos will look to become one such vetted merchant, but until then, he is fully banking on the loophole to make marijuana merchandise another hot news item in Michigan. Along with being curious as to when officials will green-light the sale of recreational weed, we wonder where Poulos is securing his marijuana and whether the added bonuses to buying one of his shirts come in customized packaging. Given that the tops show pride in his brand, we are going to suppose that the free-gift element likewise receives the same company-specific identifier.

With the spring semester soon to commence at colleges across the country, Poulos could soon prove to be the big man on campus at his higher learning institution and the surrounding environs. As Michigan debates the process for approving the sale of recreational pot, could other potential purveyors join in using marijuana merchandise to make a few quick bucks and thumb their noses at the government? We’d love to have an answer to that soon. If nothing else, Poulos will have learned a great deal about self-promotion and the possible benefits of striking while the iron (or the joint) is hot.