Vending machines aren’t just for snacks and beverages anymore.
In 2022, the workplace break room staples also have cannabis inside sometimes, though legality may vary by location.
Last week, authorities in Detroit, Michigan, arrested a man, Marcellus Cornwell, for operating a cannabis vending machine from his residence.
Cornwell was allegedly making more than $2,000 a day from the machine, which he had bolted to the side of his home on Detroit’s west side.
WZZM says Cornwell, who has six prior felony convictions, has been charged with illegally possessing firearms.
According to WZZM, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) found and seized 18 firearms from Cornwell’s house, along with dozens of rounds of ammunition and several pounds of cannabis.
According to WJBK, one of the firearms was a sawed-off shotgun.
“As far as where these firearms came from and what crimes they would have been a part of, we are still looking into that,” ATF Special Agent in Charge Paul Vanderplow told WJBK. “You can do this stuff in a neighborhood, people are going to notice and they’re going to get mad—they’re going to do something about it.”
WJBK says Cornwell had been operating the business for four years.
According to WZZM, DEA agents had acted on a tip and knew about the cannabis vending machine after making purchases to collect evidence in February and March.
Agents also executed a search warrant at Cornwell’s home in March.
Following Cornwell’s arrest last week, he was released on bond by a federal magistrate judge.
Michigan legalized adult-use cannabis in 2018 when it passed the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act with 56 percent of the vote.
The state previously legalized medical-use cannabis through the Michigan Compassionate Care Act in 2008.
Update: Fixed spelling of Marcellus Cornwell
