Vetra Stephens going big in Detroit

The Detroit Metro Times has an excellent feature on Detroit Cannabis entrepreneur Vetra Stephens, owner of Wayne County’s first recreational marijuana dispensary, 1st Quality Medz in River Rouge & her plans for expansion in the cannabis industry:

…The neat and orderly place (1st Quality Medz) is relatively small compared to some dispensaries in southeast Michigan, but Vetra Stephens has big plans for growth. For one thing, Stephens, one of three owners of the business, also has a grow facility in another area of River Rouge. And for a second thing, the group owns a processing facility in the same area.

It’s those other assets through which Stephens intends to make a splash in Michigan’s marijuana market. They expect to get their state license to process extracts in the next couple of weeks. Then there will be a new brand available at 1st Quality and hopefully other retail outlets in the area. The brand is called “The V Affect” and, at least initially, the company expects to produce Rick Simpson Oil (RSO), gummies, and vape carts starting in April.

“We’ll have the RSO because that’s what’s near and dear to our hearts,” Stephens says. “Then we’ll have The V Effect gummy line, and we’ll also have cartridges. Those are the three things we’ll have right out of the gate, and then we’ll kind of listen to the customers and see what they’re looking for and then we’ll add to the product line. And then we’ll be doing flower, as well.”

…Right now there are about 25 workers employed at the three facilities. That will expand as soon as they start processing products. Packagers, extractors, brand ambassadors, and marketers will come on board.

As a Black woman, Stephens’s expansion into the cannabis industry is significant because of the disparities there. According to a recent report from the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, only 3.8% of Michigan residents with an ownership interest in licensed recreational marijuana businesses are Black, though Black people make up 13.7% of the state’s population.

Lots more in the Metro Times! You can check Vetra & her business out at firstqualitymeds.com or on Facebook & Instagram. Check out all of metro Detroit’s recreational marijuana dispensaries out on the MCT!