A rapidly growing number of marijuana plants are reaching toward high-wattage grow lights across Michigan.

This has resulted in slowly decreasing retail prices for both medical and recreational marijuana. The price reductions come following a spike after the opening of the first recreational marijuana shops in December.

Nearly 8,600 pounds were sold between the two markets in May alone, versus about 3,000 in January, according to Marijuana Regulatory Agency monthly reporting.

“I think (prices) will continue to drop just in the short term because we do see increases in production on the adult-use side,” Marijuana Regulatory Agency Director Andrew Briso told MLive in June. ” … Where it settles long term, I couldn’t really say what is going to be the price two years from now (or) five years from now when supply is adequate.

“What we need to be cautious about and be wary of is what happened in Oregon … where the scale shifted and there was oversupply, because then the price kind of bottoms out.”

While the recreational market continues to grow rapidly, Brisbo said the majority of the recreational product continues to come from marijuana originally planted under medical marijuana licenses, which are more abundant. [Read more at MLive]