The ailing Michigan economy could use any boost it can get after the well documented collapse of its staple automotive industry. Government bail outs are by no means a long term solution and the state is looking for any outlet to spur economic growth. In 2008, a bill proposing the legalization of medical marijuana in the state of Michigan passed with a resounding 63% of the vote. The new law has opened job opportunities for equipment manufacturers, doctors, lawyers, and many others that interpret its rules creatively. The once underground drug is now the basis of sprouting businesses statewide.

Rick Ferris worked 25 years in construction until a leg condition caused a career change. His next endeavor was landscaping and was fairly successful until 2008, when “every laid-off guy with a truck” in southeast Michigan started mowing lawns. Ferris didn’t complain, he adapted. His latest venture has been a surprising success: Big Daddy’s, an Oak Park facility to manufacture hydroponic growing systems. The kind used for growing marijuana.

Ferris is one of an increasing number of Michiganders looking to cash in on last year’s voter-approved initiative that legalized the use of medical marijuana. Ferris’ versatility stretches beyond Big Daddy’s, he is set to publish the first issue of the Michigan Medical Marijuana magazine in December. And he’s reaping rewards. Ferris has hired five new employees, three of them full-time, and sold over 140 hydroponic systems since getting under way in the spring. Big Daddy’s success has kept his landscaping business afloat as well. “I figured it was either jump in front or be left behind,” he said.

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And he’s not the only one. In the first six months they were available, Michigan’s Department of Community Health issued 5,100 certificates for the legal use of marijuana for people with chronic or debilitating illness, a number that is expected to increase. In Southfield, a four-doctor medical practice opened in May that specializes in patients who require certification to legally use marijuana. It calls itself the Michigan Medical Marijuana Certification Center.

Matthew Abel, a Detroit attorney and Green Party political candidate, said the medical marijuana law has been so good for his business he might “finally have to hire some staff.” Abel said the rush has come in three waves, first from patients inquiring about certification, then from caregivers

(those authorized under the law to grow marijuana for patients) and lately from people interested in how someone might set up a retail sales operation or dispensary. His position: “My feeling is that anything is legal that isn’t illegal.”

November’s resounding vote to legalize medical marijuana shows Michigan’s perception of marijuana is changing. Its new entrepreneurial attitude towards the plant may just give the state’s economy the boost it needs.