A Michigan judge declined to strike down a new tax on the wholesale price of marijuana, mostly backing the state's argument that the tax won't push customers to illicit pot markets and saying lawmakers didn't violate the constitution when they passed the bills to create the new levy.

In an opinion issued Monday, Dec. 8, Michigan Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel denied a request made by the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association and marijuana cultivator Holistic Research Group to issue a preliminary injunction against a new 24% tax on the wholesale price of pot, set to take effect Jan. 1.

Holistic Research Group and the MCIA, which represents over 400 cannabis businesses in Michigan, had sued the state in October, shortly after lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer approved the new tax.

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