CANNABIS UNDER COVID-19
Despite these legal gray areas and financial 
technicalities, many cannabis industry own-
ers are thriving — even during the COVID-
19 pandemic. 
Goldberg says that the cannabis business 
has gotten even stronger during this time. 
“People have had some of their best weeks 
under COVID,
” he said. 
Jerry Millen, owner of The GreenHouse 
of Walled Lake dispensary, says that on an 
average business day during the COVID-19 
pandemic, the store sees 700 to 800 cars 
come for curbside delivery. 
Business has been so successful that on 
May 29, Millen started offering free 20-
minute consultations on cannabis products 
to all medical marijuana and recreational 
users. “People who wouldn’
t even try can-
nabis before are reaching out because of a 
lot of anxiety and stress,
” he said. 
Curbside pickup has been a huge boon, 
too. Millen is grateful to Gov. Gretchen 
Whitmer for legalizing this service for the 
industry. He says he has been advocating 
for curbside pickup even before COVID-19, 
in particular for medical marijuana patients. 
“I have people who are in wheelchairs, 
paraplegics, people with stage four cancer. 
Just for them to get out of their vehicle is a 
20-minute process,
” he said. Millen hopes 
the state will consider permanently legaliz-
ing this service even after the pandemic.
Despite an uptick in business for many 

owners, Abel feels the cannabis industry 
is still being discriminated against in the 
midst of the coronavirus. He says that mar-
ijuana businesses are not eligible for the 
federal government’
s Paycheck Protection 
Program, which offers loans for small 
businesses. He finds this ironic, since 
many governors, including Whitmer, have 
deemed marijuana dispensaries as essential 
businesses.

JEWISH VALUES
In the past decade, Jews have come to play 
an important role in the cannabis indus-
try in Michigan. Half of the six cannabis 
testing facilities in the state are owned by 
Jews, including PSI Laboratories, Steadfast 
Analytical Laboratories in Hazel Park and 
Iron Laboratories in Walled Lake. 
Spivak-Birndorf says he has met several 
Jews working behind the scenes in laborato-
ries, growing and processing facilities. From 
a science perspective, he’
s not surprised to 
find Jews in cannabis laboratories. 
“The stereotype is we have a lot of nerds,
” 
he said. 
In addition to the scientific aspects of 
the business, Spivak-Birndorf believes Jews 
might be attracted to the cannabis industry 
because of their willingness to question 
things. “We are allowed to ask questions 
to our God in a way that maybe other reli-
gions aren’
t as often,
” he said. “We’
re attract-
ed to groundbreaking, rule-changing sorts 

of industries in that way.
”
For Mort Meisner, the CEO of Grow 
Cannabis Marketing in Royal Oak, the pull 
to the cannabis industry for Jews, and many 
others, is as simple as opportunity. “Those 
of us of the Jewish faith, many of us are very 
entrepreneurial,
” he said. 
Many of those involved in the cannabis 
industry don’
t find their work to be at odds 
with their Jewish roots. Goldberg says 
though there tends to be a lot of misinfor-
mation and stigmatization of the industry, 
he sees cannabis as a business like any other. 
Some even feel their Jewish values inspire 
the work they do. Weinberg says that the 
Jewish principle of helping others is present 
when his products provide symptom relief 
to medical marijuana patients. 
Additionally, Weinberg explains that for 

16 | JULY 2 • 2020 

COURTESY OF GROW CANNABIS MARKETING

The GreenHouse of
Walled Lake dispensary

Jews in the D

Mort
Meisner

COURTESY OF GROW CANNABIS MARKETING

continued from page 15

